Two hundred families in Banteay Meanchey’s Poipet town are demand-ing authorities resolve a dispute involving five families who have built houses on a public road, blocking access.
Ket Sothea, a representative of the 200 families in Poipet commune, said on Monday that the road, which crosses a railway track, has been blocked by the structures, rendering the crossing unusable.
“The families got reparations from the impact of railway from the state already, but they won’t move to the new location and have instead built houses on public land. This has impacted the [mobility] and livelihoods of people,” Sothea said.
But Miech Vet, 54, a member of one of the families accused of building on the public land, said the families had not received any compensation, a claim backed up by the local commune chief.
Vet said she has lived in Kbal Koh village since 1994 and is yet to receive any compensation for the impact of the railway since the renovation project started in 2006.
“Before, our village did not have the wide road. My house has been in the village for 20 years, but there is problem now and it is unfair to me,” she said.
