City Hall field trip

The newly appointed municipal governor will take a field mission to Boeung Kak before the end of the month, to research a solution to the long-standing land dispute, a spokesman said yesterday.

“His Excellency will set the time at the end of May to see the actual location of where the people have lived and what documents they possess for a resolution,” Long Dimanche said.

On May 9, just days after taking office, Pa Socheatvong held an unprecedented meeting with representatives from the Boeung Kak and Borei Keila communities and vowed to review their complaints and broker a solution to the pair of disputes.

During the meeting, Boeung Kak residents also submitted a plan drawn up by the community which they say would solve the dispute by making room for dozens of families left out of the titling process.

Dimanche said that in return for the unusually open door, the governor hoped for a measure of cooperation from the community which has been locked in near-constant protests in recent years.