PM chides private sector over land

By Craig Guthrie

The Mekong Times

Prime Minister Hun Sen (pictured) yesterday warned the country’s buoyant private sector to tread carefully when investing in land – whether privately or state owned.

Speaking at the packed 13th Government-Private Sector Forum, Hun Sen said listening to local radio gave him “headaches” when it reported on land disputes involving private firms, demanding the government’s investment body review controversial investments.“Companies; please have pity on the people. You cannot force people to sell their land and we cannot let companies abuse their land,” said the premier. “The CDC [Council for the Development of Cambodia] must monitor these companies and revoke their licenses if they encroach on land owned by the people. I will give incentives only to the private sector for investments which benefit the people.”

Hun Sen is Chairman of the CDC.The prime minister warned he would attend court cases himself with disgruntled villagers in tow should courts erroneously rule in favor of private firms in land disputes.

State land must also be respected, Hun Sen cautioned. He cited a recent US$400,000 bill the state received from a Thai firm for a collapsed electricity pole – raised as part of a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) project to import Thai electricity – as an example. Such actions were “incomprehensible,” he said.

“I do not understand this. One of the poles collapsed and this company complained to the court in Banteay Meanchey that the state should pay US$400,000. This is public land but they won. The private sector put in the posts, but they complain to the court that the state must pay,” he said.“[The company] comes to our house, destroys it and then punishes us,” complained Hun Sen.

The premier asked Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathna to explain why the nation’s courts were deciding in favor of the private sector. “I do not put pressure on the court, but it is now abusing the rights of the Royal Government,” he added. Ang Vong Vathna said by phone that Hun Sen was not attacking the courts as a whole. “He was defending the people against the companies, and asking that the courts look at these cases two or three times before making any decision.”

“I understand the premier’s sense of dissatisfaction with the court order,” said ADB Country Director Arjun Goswami. He added that a review would have to be carried out among the various government agencies to determine if the electricity poles Hun Sen mentioned are indeed on state land. Local human rights group Lichado recorded 98 new cases of land encroachment affecting more than 5,242 families in 2007. The group claimed many cases involve “powerful individuals and companies … often acting with the complicity of government and state officials.”