Representatives of 160 families who converged on their district hall yesterday will have to wait until next Thursday for authorities to announce an end to a land dispute that started in 2006.

Authorities promised to settle the dispute over a 400-hectare area of land in Kampong Thom province’s Samlieng village, Krayal commune, Santuk district, which villagers have occupied since 1980, but which the government nominated for social land concession in 2006.

Neth Sao, 59, said villagers “prepared relevant documents to meet authorities’ demands and we hoped that the authorities would find a proper resolution to help us who have faced clearing and eviction for years”.

On November 8, Santuk district hall issued a notice requiring villagers to plead their case before December 15.

Santuk district governor Sorm Vann Than said he had received documents relating to villagers’ ownership of the land.  

“I would urge a working group to go to inspect what are the villagers’ claim involving the land size, where it is, what name it has and what crops are grown and then I would issue a map to the villagers,” he said.

“I would then settle it by law,” he said.