MORE than 100 families living on land west of Phnom Penh International Airport in Dangkor district received a letter Wednesday inviting them to meet with municipal officials on Friday in a bid to resolve a standoff with the city, which wants the land for an airport expansion.

Residents say they received a notice on November 5 giving them until December 11 to voluntarily relocate or face forcible eviction from the site.

Uth Teng Sakhorn, a representative for the 104 families, rejected calls for their eviction unless residents are offered fair compensation.

“In the invitation letter, they mentioned they would hold a meeting about our eviction, but they did not talk about compensation,” he said.

Chea Vuth, another representative, said that during Friday’s meeting, he planned to request a delay of the December 11 deadline.

Officials agreed that they might offer the residents a temporary reprieve, but said increased compensation would not be forthcoming.

“We are thinking about delaying their eviction because we are all Khmer citizens, but they must understand our project,” said Mann Chhoeun, Phnom Penh deputy governor.

“They are living illegally on state public land, so it’s very hard to talk about compensation.”