“Cambodia’s 2001 Land Law prohibits deprivation of ownership without due process and grants the right to apply for a land title to someone who has been in possession of a private property for five years. Article 44 of the Constitution states that the government can only deprive someone of property for “public interest” purposes and requires the payment of fair and just compensation.”

Land issue in Cambodia is lingering by the corruption and anarchic settlement. In the wake of war, for Cambodia, both government and people are anarchic. But the anarchic people is a large profit for anarchic government. The issue of Beoung Kok Lake once has been academically and publicly debated by the researchers, environmentalists, anthropologists and the government. The solution was settled to preserve this natural lake as the leisure place and water reservoir for flooding water in Phnom Penh capital city. But later, the government decided to give concession this important strategic land to their patron tycoon for 99 years without considering the research finding or having proper plan for it.

In a short period, government can hand that huge amount of money, but in a long run, the children of Phnom Penh city will be drawn and badly affected by this self-suicidal concession.

To duly understand Beoung Kok Lake and the urban poor/development, you should visit this website: http://saveboeungkak.wordpress.com Or if you need more academic point of view on the controversial development of Beoung Kok Lake, you should read Dr. Bunnarith’s paper; he gave us much insight on the proper development of Beoung Kok Lake http://www2.hawaii.edu/~csaloha