Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, this morning advised all competent authorities, especially the provincial ones, to take immediate action to repress any state forest land encroachment.
“No one, either rich or poor, can be allowed to encroach the state forest land,” he underlined at the inauguration ceremony of two new buildings and the graduation ceremony of some 2,000 students of the Royal Academy for Justice of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.
The Premier said last night, he already sent a message to the provincial authorities to immediately crack down on illegal land grabbing.
Generally, he continued, when the nation is preparing for the National Election, there are cases of state-forest land encroachment, therefore all provincial administrations have to take action immediately.
There are some groups encroaching on state land, and when the authorities took action, they will record the crackdown and broadcast it against the Royal Government and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, he said.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen took an example of a group of people who could build up to 500 houses in just a night on state land, and when the authorities cracked down on their activities, they accused the authorities of committing abuses against the poor. “Therefore, we need to prevent such case,” he added.
The Prime Minister also asked human rights activists to look at “the whole forest, not just a single tree”, stressing that the Royal Government has an obligation to ensure the order and protect the country’s natural resources and forests.
