More than 60 families in the capital’s Russei Keo district set to make way for a new Cambodian-Chinese friendship bridge that began construction yesterday are yet to be offered compensation in exchange for resettlement, officials said this week.

Families living on both sides of the Tonle Sap river – in Russei Keo district’s Chroy Changvar commune and Daun Penh district’s Srah Chak commune – have demanded compensation in exchange for relocating from the riverbank.

Chea Sam Un, chief of Deumkor village in Chroy Changvar, said that so far only nine families had been offered US$5,000 each for agreeing to move.

“The families who cannot afford new land or homes, rent rooms or homes to live in,” she said, adding that 64 families remained living on the riverbank, while 10 families were affected in Srah Chak commune.

Villager Dem Thivutha, 38, said that she wanted market price in compensation for her house. Chroy Changvar commune chief Pich Saroeun said that he did not know what compensation would be offered.

Meanwhile, Srah Chak commune chief Chhay Thirith said that construction had affected just one family and a warehouse, and that municipal officials had solved the problem.

The Post reported in September that residents had refused to comply with an order from district authorities to pull down their homes because they had not been offered resettlement options or compensation.