AT least 22 families living in the capital’s Chamkarmon district say they are being forced to sell their land at below market value to Thailand’s Bun Roong Company in order to make way for a housing development.

Village representative Chhim Veasna said on Wednesday that the families, living on a parcel of land in Tonle Bassac commune known as T85, had received a notice from the Council of  Ministers mandating that they sell their land for US$400 per square metre.

The villagers say their land is worth between $2,000 and $2,500 per square metre.

“We are very concerned about our houses and living situation because we are being forced to move by the Thai Bun Roong Company,” Chhim Veasna said.

“They want to expel us from our places by forcing us to sell our houses to them at the lowest prices.”

A Council of Ministers notice dated September 8 and signed by Secretary of State Prak Sokhonn, orders villagers to decide between selling their land for $400 per square metre or relocating to 4.3 metre by 16 metre lots in Dangkor district’s Choam Chao commune.

But Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said yesterday that he had not heard of this specific complaint, but promised to look into the issue on Friday.

He said that the Council of Ministers document that the villagers were referring to might be fake, because the government does not set land-sale prices in negotiations between companies and villagers.

A representative of Bun Roong Company could not be reached for comment by the Post yesterday.