Land grabbing - the same old story
See the lake? The Boeng Kak Lake? It's known as backpacker central. People hang out, enjoy the breeze and patronise the local drinking establishments and guesthouses. Besides the backpackers, there are hundreds of families living around the lake, who earn their livings through the provision of services to tourists. They own their land, well legally anyway.
A Korean company has won the government-sponsored contract to drain 90% of the lake. Although they do not have a contract to dispossess the residents, that's that the Phnom Penh police force is for. Plans to evict hundreds of families from their homes are going ahead in spite of much local opposition.
Oh well the company's lease on the area is only 99 years. Perhaps the residents might get their land back eventually. It's the cost of living in Cambodia these days. Land grabbing and corruption are widespread. The government breaks its promises to provide new housing and support. It doesn't even matter that this is an election year because the PM has stated that if his ruling party doesn't win, he'll start a civil war.
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