Thirty-five families affected by the development of three canals in the Tatuk community gathered in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Hall on February 9 to request a response to a letter they had sent in 2019.

Bao Srey Mao, a representative of the community in Choeung Ek commune’s Prek Thleung village of the capital’s Dangkor district – told The Post on February 9 that the government had previously announced plans to develop three canals which would affect the households living alongside.

She said the community had previously submitted a letter to authorities asking for on-the-spot development, rather than relocation of the families. They had received no positive response, and so they had gathered to follow up on their earlier request.

“Our land is at the mouth of the canals, not on top of them. We do not want anything other than to live in the same place. We don’t want to be relocated, but we are very concerned that we will be because we do not have land titles. We respectfully ask that we be allowed to stay in our homes,” she said.

Oem Saroeun, another resident, said the families had been living on the canals since the 1980s and that the authorities had not yet issued them title deeds. She asked the municipal hall to allocate more than 4,000sqm of land along the canal to the villagers so they could develop it themselves.

Equitable Cambodia’s executive director Eang Vuthy said that all citizens have a legitimate right to request on-site development proposals, and that they have taken place in other areas.

He believed the authorities should attempt to find an equitable solution as soon as possible, because the issue had already been prolonged for many years.

“People are definitely worried, so the government should alleviate their concerns by finding a timely solution. It is difficult for them to live under the current circumstances as their emotions are troubled by the uncertainty of living without legal recognition,” he said.

Municipal hall spokesman Meth Meas Pheakdey told The Post on February 9 that he was aware of the gathering, but had not yet had time to study the details of the case.

“We only know that people have filed a petition, but it is not yet clear to us what happened exactly. I will need to check the contents of the petition and their needs before I can provide an answer as to how we will resolve the issue,” he said.