Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - PM tells CPP to focus on settling land, labour rows

PM tells CPP to focus on settling land, labour rows

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Prime Minister Hun Sen remarks at a meeting with more than 3,000 CPP officials in Phnom Penh on November 26 at the CPP headquarters. SPM

PM tells CPP to focus on settling land, labour rows

Prime Minister Hun Sen urged authorities to focus on settling land and worker disputes to avoid social unrest, as he addressed a Central Committee meeting of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in the run-up to the 2023 general election.

The November 26 meeting was attended by over 3,000 CPP members.

Hun Sen said all party members in the CPP-led government must continue to pay attention to fulfilling their duties to serve the nation and the people, especially by maintaining security and social order and implementing the “safe village-commune policy”, including intensifying clampdown on robberies and drug trafficking.

“The authorities must take care to resolve long-running land disputes for the people quickly and effectively and provide the people with necessary services quickly to avoid causing problems,” he said.

The premier also urged them to try to resolve disputes between factory workers and their employers through out-of-court settlements.

Am Sam Ath, deputy director of rights group LICADHO, said this represented a good opportunity to remind the authorities and the CPP members to solve people’s problems.

“Because we know that the people, especially farmers, rely on land to grow rice and the people need the land for their home. So, if there is no timely solution for them, it is the opposite of the government’s policy to alleviate poverty,” he said.

He continued that when land disputes become prolonged, it pushes people into poverty and inspires other phenomenon such as protests and demonstrations or causes things like family separations, violence and impacts on women.

Sam Ath suggested that authorities at all levels settle the disputes justly and fairly, and that if the government urged officials to do this it would solve many of the land related problems.

“But some disputes continue to be prolonged for people. So, I think that the relevant authorities should be determined and committed to resolving these land issues. If the meat is rotten, cut it off, so the people get justice and proper compensation,” he said.

He also said that the problems with workers’ jobs were not that different from the land disputes.

When disputes drag on for too long, it deals a blow to the government’s reputation, he said, citing an ongoing labour dispute between the NagaWorld integrated casino resort and their laid-off employees as an example.

Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction spokesman Seng Lot could not be reached for comment on November 27.

According to the ministry, from 2003 to 2021, the cadastral commissions in cities and districts had received 9,126 complaints, of which 8,348 had been addressed at the lower levels and 4,346 had been resolved.

In Kampong Speu province, the land dispute resolution commission said authorities had always tried to address the issues and properly verified long-term residents of state land as instructed by the prime minister.

In 2001, the government issued a land policy statement, and this year it rolled out land policy books with the main objective and goal of strengthening land ownership security and land markets by preventing or settling disputes and managing land and natural resources equitably, sustainably and effectively.

MOST VIEWED

  • 12th Cambodia int’l film festival to see return of Hollywood star

    Phnom Penh is set to come alive with the magic of cinema as the highly anticipated 12th Cambodia International Film Festival (CIFF) takes centre stage. Boasting an impressive line-up of 188 films from 23 countries, including captivating shorts, feature films, documentaries and animation, the festival promises an

  • Brawl marrs football final as Indonesian take gold in seven goal thriller

    The Indonesian men's U22 men national football team were crowned champions of the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, defeating Thailand 5-2 in extra time on May 16 at Olympic National Stadium in Phnom Penh. The match was marred by an ugly incident that occured in the 91

  • Bareknuckle champion wants Kun Khmer fighter

    Dave Leduc, who is the current openweight Lethwei boxing champion in Myanmar, has announced that he will travel to Cambodia this year to challenge SEA Games gold medallist Prum Samnang any time that is convenient, after their planned match later this month in Slovakia was

  • Candlelight Party disqualified from July general election

    The National Election Committee (NEC) has disqualified the Candlelight Party (CP) from contesting the upcoming general election, citing a lack of valid documentation. NEC spokesman Khorn Keomono said the CP failed to fulfil one of the three main requirements: including original documentation proving their registration

  • Thong Khon calls for orderly SEA Games closing ceremony

    Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism and permanent vice-president of the Cambodia SEA Games Organising Committee (CAMSOC), calls on all people who have received tickets to the May 17 closing ceremony of the biennial multi-sports extravaganza at the Morodok Techo National Stadium to ensure that the event

  • 1.4 billion dollar Phnom Penh-Bavet expressway due in four years

    The Government, through the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, has officially signed a public-private partnership agreement with a private company for the construction of a Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway project that will connect the capital to Svay Rieng province. The budget for the project is