Local authorities told residents of Kratie province’s Snuol district that they would not allow a private company to plant crops on their land during a meeting yesterday. Poeng Vin, chief of Pi Thnou commune, said that local authorities would measure land belonging to hundreds of villagers affected by a 740-hectare land concession granted in 2008 to CIV Company Development Agro-Industry. “We will not allow the company to plant rubber trees or cassava on their land,” he said. Villagers had complained that they were prevented from accessing their land by armed security guards. Yi Soksan, deputy head of the land programme at the rights group Adhoc, said yesterday that an attempt by local rights workers to investigate land in Sre Cha commune had been rebuffed on Tuesday. CIV director Heang Vo Khay said the rights workers should have provided advance notice.