Central government is to start taking back state owned land which has been improperly

sold or rented out, according to Prime Minister Hun Sen .

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony at Phnom Tamao zoo on January 25, the PM warned

all buyers and sellers of state property that land involved in "informal"

sales would be confiscated without compensation.

"I don't care who is selling land. I know only that I will use my power to take

the state property back.

"I would like to announce to all the owners, local and international, who buy

[land] that I don't care. I know only that I will take back the land. ... The owners

will not dare to buy it any more," he told assembled officials and members of

the public.

Local authorities and government officers in many areas had sold land to wealthy

Cambodians and foreigners because of high prices.

Recently, the government approved a sub-decree to take back state property in Siem

Reap province from three owners who bought or rented it from a provincial officer.

Other owners were being investigated in the same area, Hun Sen said.

The government would not be responsible for reimbursing owners whose land was confiscated.

They could take their complaints to the sellers and the courts, he said.

"Whoever you bought it from, you take it up with them. The government wants

only to take back the property."