tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7268514535295850133.post5391712053805764855..comments2023-09-21T03:28:16.289-07:00Comments on CAMBODIA AS IT IS: Dey Kraham Revisited - The other side of the coin.KJEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04869408230216868495noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7268514535295850133.post-71604881820016352772008-03-31T08:06:00.000-07:002008-03-31T08:06:00.000-07:00If you see the situation through Western eyes ther...If you see the situation through Western eyes there is no culprit. The city sold the land, there was a willing buyer who knew the consequences and he tried to deal with them. The city/federal government is at fault for not providing for the poor people who will be displaced. Even though they did not own the land a government in a democracy is by the people and for the people, even for those who don't vote. But the government should not interfere in a legal process or in a free market economy. The land craze is a part of that economy and unless you put price controls in effect market forces determine events. <BR/>In the case at hand the owner did know what he was getting into and he is dealing with it. He is still negotiating with the rightful owners of the condos in the building / Boding. But the vagrants squatting outside are a different stories. Not one of them can even show an attempt of getting a title for the 4 x 6 m they occupy.KJEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869408230216868495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7268514535295850133.post-73152584080808450752008-03-29T18:41:00.000-07:002008-03-29T18:41:00.000-07:00If he bought the land from the city then it is the...If he bought the land from the city then it is the city's faults but the buyer must realize that the Cambodian land title system and the Cambodian officials are very corrupt. The money that he paid to the city will probably end up in the officials' pockets. As a result the new owner will probably have to pay double- one part to the city and one part to the residents/dwellers/owners of Boding. Being caught up in a corrupt system in Cambodia is a very costly exercise- Many have gone broke through dealings with corrupt govt. officials. In this situation, the new owner is probably a victim, like the dwellers/owners of Boding as well. And the culprits/perpetrators are the corrupt city officials.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7268514535295850133.post-68871226195900925472008-03-29T08:29:00.000-07:002008-03-29T08:29:00.000-07:00Well, the company owning Dey Krahom is 7NG. The ow...Well, the company owning Dey Krahom is 7NG. The owner of that company is a matter of public record. This man legally bought the land from the city. The squatters did not own the land nor have they occupied it since 1979. Most of them were vagrants who moved from place to place. A look at those slums clearly shows what and who those people are. Only the people in Boding can show proof of ownership. For this reason the negotiations are rather difficult. I am not sympathetic to the present owner, although I do know him personally. But Licadho and similar organizations as well as Sam Rainsy are never objective in their description of such situations and their condemnations. Some sort of balanced reporting would at least occasionally be called for. If anybody is to blame it would be the government for not taking care of its poor people who most likely got into their situation through no fault of their own.KJEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869408230216868495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7268514535295850133.post-12132869797730780822008-03-29T01:41:00.000-07:002008-03-29T01:41:00.000-07:00Unfortunately, the article doesn't metion who the ...Unfortunately, the article doesn't metion who the owner of the lands is or how he/she come about to own those pieces of lands? If the owner is one of Sok Kong, Mong Ritthy, Kith Meng, Yeay Phu, Yeay Phan or their likes, then we know how they came about to own these pieces of lands- through bribery to high officials. The writer seemed to be very sympathetic with the owner for not being able to have enough money to compensate the dwellers/owners of Boding. Well, It is not a matter of compensating but a matter of paying for the lands at market price to the rightful and original owners- the residents- who occupied those lands since 1979. Or, the owner is simply being cheated a by a powerful government official who conned him to buy the lands but latter realized that the lands belong to the dwellers and there is nothing he can do about it? I do not have any sympathy with this "new owner" because if he doesn't have the money he should not buy these lands in the first place. If the market price is $4000/m2 that's what he need to pay to the dwellers who took possessions of the lands since 1979.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com