ABOUT 50 villagers representing 64 families from Kampong Chhnang province came to Phnom Penh on Tuesday to deliver a letter to the Ministry of Justice seeking intervention in a land dispute.

The families travelled from Kampong Chhnang’s Lor Peang village, Ta Cheist commune, Kampong Tralach district, in an effort to have their legal dispute with KDC, a private company, transferred from Phnom Penh Municipal Court to Kampong Chhnang provincial court.

Um Sophy, a village representative, said the families were seeking the change of venue because they could not afford to make frequent trips to Phnom Penh to monitor legal proceedings there.

The villagers’ thumb-printed letter also requested that Kampong Chhnang provincial court shelve incitement charges that were brought against three Lor Peang residents last year in connection with the dispute and focus instead on the civil case with KDC.

Ministry of Justice spokesman Bunyai Narith said he was not sure whether the ministry’s Department of Administration had received the letter, but that if it was submitted properly, the department would forward it to the minister of justice for evaluation.

Villagers said, however, that their letter had been rejected by the Ministry of Justice because it lacked the proper documentation.

Som Sokong, the villagers’ lawyer, said he had already sent a letter to Phnom Penh Municipal Court requesting a change of venue to Kampong Chhnang, but was still waiting for an official reply.