Prime Minister Hun Sen has detailed the development plan for the Run Ta Ek area in Siem Reap province’s Banteay Srei district, which has been allocated for people who voluntarily relocate from the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap town.

While addressing the relocating residents on September 13, Hun Sen said authorities have been building infrastructure at the area in the district’s Run Ta Ek commune. The site is more than 20km from the Angkor park area, a UNESCO World Heritage site that officials are striving to preserve.

Since last month, a total of 1,117 households living within the park have drawn random lots in order to move to the new location. According to Hun Sen, the area is expected to eventually receive up to 6,000 households from the Angkor conservation area.

The premier continued that the Run Ta Ek area could become a new town in future, though currently it needs to have roads built, connections to water and electricity utilities established, along with buildings for health centres, markets and schools from primary to secondary levels. He also reminded the authorities in charge of the project to build teacher accommodations.

“Now, the area already has more than a thousand families moving in, so it is already a small town. In the near future when the area has up to 6,000 households, it could become a town,” he said.

A day before he landed in Siem Reap to meet the residents who have agreed to relocate, the premier said that an inter-ministerial committee led by Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction Chea Sophara had launched a large-scale campaign to measure the land occupied by people living within the park – which is under the management of the Apsara National Authority (ANA) – as well as those who have illegally moved into the protected areas more recently.

He explained that the Angkor Wat temple, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since December 14, 1992, could be in danger of being removed from the list due to the fact that there are too many modern buildings and constructions being put up in the area, which is against UNESCO’s rules and conditions that are in place to encourage maximum protection and conservation for sites on its World Heritage list.

While meeting with the outgoing residents, Hun Sen thanked them for relocating from the park, a move he regarded as a “patriotic sacrifice” or duty they have undertaken for national interest.

As a gesture of thanks and to further support them in their new homes, Hun Sen provided immediate assistance including 50kg of rice, six cases of instant noodles and a case of canned fish to the 1,117 households. They also received 30 zinc tiles and 1.4 million riel ($350) total to help pay for the dismantling, transport and reassembly of their homes, and to add toilets to them.

Hun Sen also announced that the government would provide equity cards or IDPoor cards to all relocating residents who have not received them yet, to be effective from the start of October, while noting that this policy will continue for the next 10 years, specifically for those living in the Run Ta Ek area.

Back in June 2019, the government implemented a cash transfer programme for pregnant women and children under the age of 2. Then, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the government also launched a cash transfer programme for IDPoor card holders and other vulnerable people.

Hun Sen stated that currently around 700,000 households are benefiting from the cash transfer programme.

“From October onward, the Ministry of Economy and Finance has to increase this line of the budget in order to give benefits to around 2,000 new households [at Run Ta Ek area]. This figure will increase to 6,000 in the future. There is nothing to fear about adding this many people as we have been providing support to nearly 700,000 households already,” he said.

From August 18 to September 10, ministry and department working groups had measured plots of land and recorded the demographic data of 114 target families in 24 communes and five districts in Siem Reap that are located in the park. They earlier announced that they had finished measuring 93,351 plots of land covering 10,945ha.

Hun Sen said there is another area reserved to receive additional people who will be asked to move out of the protected areas in the future. That new area is located in Peak Sneng commune of Angkor Thom district.

Chan Chamroeun, provincial coordinator for rights group ADHOC, told The Post that as a staff member working at a civil society organisation, he supported the relocation and development of the new area. However, he urged that the impacts on the lives of the local people be dealt with equitably.

“We applaud any development which improves people’s lives. And development must also solve the problems for the local people who are affected. Solutions for land issues should be dealt with peacefully and be acceptable to those who will move to the new area and the people who have already been living in the new area,” he said.

He said that to his knowledge, there were still some unresolved land disputes at the Run Ta Ek development area, which he urged the authorities to deal with promptly in order to benefit all stakeholders.

Hy Say, director of Siem Reap provincial land management department, could not be reached for comment on September 13.

Land management minister Sophara said earlier this year that the state would issue land titles for people who voluntarily relocate to the Run Ta Ek area, whereas, by contrast, no one living in an area under the control of the ANA has a valid land title, nor can they ever expect to be issued one in the future.