Several prominent families in Kampot’s Banteay Meas district have been accused of grabbing reclaimed land from the edges of the Boeung Touk Meas lake.

Touk Meas Kang Lech commune chief Pen Sophonnary and Samrong Krom commune chief Kem Lon admitted to failing to stop the alleged land grabs but said she had reported them to district authorities.

“We have difficulty in banning them from grabbing the lakeside land since most of them are the families of soldiers, police and government officials,” Lon said.

“Sometimes, they pretend to listen to us and stop filling the lake with soil, but two or three weeks later, they secretly continued their filling at night.”

The governor of Banteay Meas district, Muong Moeung, said the issue had already been solved.

He said his office had confiscated two excavators and three trucks, and had also fined the families. He vowed to launch an investigation if the problem continued.