Lakeside sand pumping resumes

Friday, 09 September 2011
Khouth Sophak Chakrya

Photo by: Meng Kimlong
A woman walks near a house at Boeung Kak lake that was inundated with sand yesterday by controversial developer Shukaku Inc.

Phnom Penh Post

A group of Boeung Kak lake residents could only stand by and watch as the local developer Shukaku Inc inundated their houses with sand yesterday.

Eventually Shukaku, which is reclaiming land from the lake for a 133-hectare real estate development, agreed to temporarily stop pumping the sand so that affected residents could dig a canal to protect their houses. By that point the damage had already been done, said resident Chan Thoeurn.

He has also been cut out of a 12.44 hectare resettlement area awarded as compensation to 756 families set to be evicted by the project, because authorities claim his house is outside the compensation area.

Photo by: Meng Kimlong
Heng Sovan surveys the damage caused to his house after it was flooded with sand and water yesterday on the edge of Boeung Kak lake in Phnom Penh.

“Authorities cut my house from receiving a land title in the 12.44 hectare [resettlement area] and now the company pumped sand to fill in the ground floor of my house, clogging my sewage drainage system,” he said.

“Why did the authorities and the company do such a thing to my family?”

Shukaku could not be reached for comment.