VILLAGERS at the Tuol Sambo resettlement site, which is home to more than 60 HIV-positive individuals, are locked in a dispute with City Hall and the community's former chief over the appointment of a new leader after a vote Wednesday.

Residents say City Hall put forward five candidates from the community, but Khum Khoeun, chief of Tuol Sambo village, proposed a sixth - Sao Vanna - former chief of the community before its relocation from Borei Keila.

Khum Khoeun said he included Sao Vanna - named the new chief with 48 out of 62 votes - after Sao Vanna complained about not being a candidate to City Hall, which ultimately sided with him.

Suon Davy, another resident of the Tuol Sambo community, charged Sao Vanna with bringing others who live in Borei Keila to the new community to unfairly influence the vote. "Sao Vanna caused many problems for us during his leadership of the community while it was at Borei Keila," Suon Davy said, adding that he showed interest in the community only recently after NGOs and government officials had visited the site and offered donations.

Sao Vanna could not be reached comment Thursday.