News on Land

The Ministry of Environment on December 28 issued a report detailing crackdowns on illegal activities in protected natural areas and biodiversity conservation corridors.

According to the report, forest rangers responded to 8,917 cases of natural resource crimes over the past 12 months, an increase of 3,442 cases, or 63 per cent, over last year’s 5,475 reported incidents.

Rangers had logged 27,588 patrols for the year, up from 24,048 the previous year, but the number of cases sent to courts for prosecution had declined from 631 to 605.

• Reconnaissance Energy Africa, an oil and gas company with headquarters in Canada, has recently begun exploratory drilling in northern Namibia.
• Conservationists and local communities are concerned over the potential environmental impact that oil and gas extraction could have on such an important ecosystem.
• Northern Namibia and Botswana have a number of interconnected watersheds including the Okavango Delta – the potential for pollutants to enter watercourses and spread throughout the region are a particular concern.

On December 21, Reconnaissance Energy Af

The Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) released a statement on “Business and Human Rights: Corporate Accountability in Land Rights Violations”, dated December 25, to give an overview of the challenges in seeking corporate accountability regarding land rights issues.

According to the press release obtained by The Post on December 27, the CCHR examined various mechanisms available to those facing land rights violations in the country and the methods employed by communities to achieve a resolution.

Main photo: Residents of OC8 Batu Arang doing a recce of the area before starting to clear the land. (Hamzah Osman pic)

PETALING JAYA: Ninety-four families in Rawang, restless over a long delay in receiving their land titles from the Gombak district office, have decided not to wait any longer.

Five civil society organisations urged the government to take action against Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL), a Vietnamese agribusiness firm, for alleged land clearing activities on areas allocated to indigenous communities in Ratanakkiri province’s Andong Meas district.

However, provincial authorities denied the accusation, saying the local community welcomed the money that had poured into the area due to the presence of HAGL.

Lawyer extols value of traditional knowledge and tenure systems

The Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court has placed eight men in pre-trial detention on charges of “intentional violence” in relation to a land dispute with tycoon Pheun Phalla, who holds the honorific “oknha” title, in Prey Nop district.

The land dispute involving oknha Phalla and 500 families living O’Oknha Heng commune’s O’Oknha Heng and O’Ta Sek villages erupted into violence on December 20.

The Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration and the O’Oknha Heng commune authority are investigating a land dispute involving 500 families living in O’Oknha Heng and O’Ta Sek villages that recently erupted into violence. In their initial conclusion, the authorities said the villagers are not squatters as alleged.

Main photo: young oil palms await planting on land deforested by South Korea’s Korindo in the Indonesian province of Papua (Image: Mighty Earth)

In 2019, South Korea imported 745,000 metric tonnes of palm oil, up from 194,000 metric tonnes in 2005. It is one of the fastest-growing markets for the commodity in the world, driven by government policies to boost palm oil as a lucrative green industry and to secure food and energy supplies from overseas.

A Kampong Chhnang radio station owner was convicted for incitement on Tuesday and sentenced to 20 months in prison for reporting on an ongoing land dispute between villagers and the military in the province.

True to its reputation, Pakistan’s Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) is once again trying to forcibly occupy a prime land which has been given on lease to Teerath Singh, a Sikh resident of Nankana Sahib.    

According to highly places intelligence sources, the officials of ETPB in connivance with local police built the walls and laid the roof on the plot which was on lease with Teerath Singh.