Kampong Chhnang provincial authorities have ordered the removal of huts and demarcation posts that occupy a plot in Teuk Phos district’s Kraing Skear commune which belongs to the state.

Teuk Phos district deputy governor Saing Sokhoeun said on Tuesday that villagers from eight families have illegally built fences and makeshift cottages on the foot of Ta Sam mountain in an attempt to claim the land plot as their own.

Upon learning about the case, he said he led a team to investigate and ordered them to dismantle the structures, which were built along 300m of a road.

Sokhoeun said some villagers have even constructed ponds on the plot as of late last year, following a trader’s lure to grab the plot and resell it at a high price.

The trader also claimed that the plot belonged to no one, Sokhoeun added.

“[The plot] is sitting on the roadside and mountain foot, where the authorities clearly do not issue any land titles or ownership documents to any individual. We take care of it in case the government has any plan to expand the road or build something in the future."

“Some accused me of colluding with the trader. Some said I had grabbed the land plot. I went there to stop land grabbing . . . it was not for my personal interest, but for the sake of all,” Sokhoeun said.

The provincial director of Land Management, Urban Planning, Construction and Cadastre Ly Sophea, and Kraing Skear commune chief, Keo Yan, could not be reached for additional comment on Wednesday.

Sam Chankea, the provincial coordinator for right groups Adhoc, said he was unaware of the case, and that few people who were locked in land disputes in Kampong Chhnang have reported their cases to his organisation.

He suggested that authorities speed up land registration processes in order to prevent territorial squabbles.

“When people own titles to their land, they may not get involved in disputes,” he said.