Border dispute

MORE than 200 villagers from Kampong Cham province have thumbprinted a document accusing Vietnamese authorities of encroaching on their fields in Memot district.

Sum Sarith, a representative from Da commune’s Da Kandaul village, said yesterday that around 260 people had signed the complaint, which they planned to file to the National Assembly, civil society groups and the government’s border demarcation committee.

Var Kimhong, senior minister in charge of border affairs, dismissed the complaint, saying the Da commune chief was aligned with the opposition party and had probably incited farmers to petition the government.

“They have already been told, if they just planted posts it does not mean [the farmers] lose anything. They allow people to farm the same,” he said.