The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Boeung Kak villagers closer to land titles” plus 9 more

It's taken years of waiting – and protesting – but families in the capital's Boeung Kak community yesterday saw City Hall officials measure land in their villages.

Representatives of the city were deployed yesterday to villages 24, 22 and 6 to demarcate land as a step towards awarding land titles to more families.

City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said a working group had begun measuring land in accordance with documents the authorities have compiled in recent years.

"After measuring this land – the size of their houses – the 32 families will receive legal land titles," he said.

Boeung Kak representative Heng Mom, whose house was demolished in evictions, expressed her joy.

"My house has been measured," she said. "I'm over the moon. Officials said that, at the longest, they will post temporary leaflets about house sizes in one or two weeks. We can say we will get land titles soon."

In 2007, the government awarded a 99-year, $79 million contract to Shukaku – a company headed by ruling party senator Lao Meng Khin – to develop more than 100 hectares of land at Boeung Kak.

The lake was filled in and thousands of families evicted, but the commercial project planned has yet to begin.

After the World Bank suspended lending to Cambodia and rights groups criticised the government for its approach to the people of Boeung Kak, Prime Minister Hun Sen returned 12.44 hectares to residents in August 2011.

Hundreds have since received land titles but about 70 families have continued to claim they were excluded from the titling process.

When Pa Socheatvong became municipal governor in May, he promised to resolve the Boeung Kak dispute. However, clashes between protesters and authorities on the streets continue.

But the land measuring was a step towards delivering long-awaited titles and ending land disputes, said Sia Pheaum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force.

"We do congratulate them for doing this. But we would still like City Hall to offer land titles to all people in the Boeung Kak community."

Land measuring will continue today.

Investment capital in the construction sector in the first nine months of the year increased 24 per cent, according to recent data from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning & Construction.

From January to September 2013, the ministry issued permission letters on building constructions totally 1242 projects, which had a total of six million square metres at a cost $2.27 billion.

That compares to the same period in 2012, which had 1357 projects, totalling 5.6 million square metres and costing $1.835 billion.

Lao Tip Seiha, deputy general director of the ministry's construction department, said that the construction sector played a vital part in boosting the national economy because its growth created a lot of jobs for people.

Although the growth of the sector in the nine months of 2013 is smaller than in 2012, Tip Seiha is optimistic that at the end of 2013 it will continue increasing because local and international investors have asked for more permissions for building construction from the Ministry Of Land Management, Urban Planning & Construction than during last October.

He added that the projects proposed for building within this nine-month period included residential buildings, villas, flats, a supermarket, a casino, commercial buildings, acadamic buildings, a hospital, bank, hotel, garment warehouse, and a petrol station.

However, the growth rate is not at as big a scale compared to 2012. Construction investment in the first nine months of last year climbed from 2011's $999 million to $1835 million, equating to a huge 83.6 per cent increase.

Many real estate experts have confirmed that the second quarter of 2013 would see many foreign and local companies investing in most property sectors in Cambodia. And many believed investment slumped in the third quarter this year due to the political tension after the election.

Seng Bunna, a director of Bunna Realty Group, said that, after the election, the situation for real estate in Cambodia was like a coffee break, but that investors would begin to come back in, especially with the country preparing for the Asean economic community integration.

That made it a good time to invest, he said.

"Initiating an investment in Cambodia at this time is very good, for by 2015 there will be a lot of foreigners coming here," he said.

"The real estate sector, especially office space, condos and apartments, will be in great demand by 2015," he said.

This year there have been two big foreign investment projects, those of Booyoung from South Korea and Hong Kong Land company.

At least two big renowned Malaysian real estate companies look set to join other overseas investors in Cambodia.

President of Cambodian Valuer and Estate Agents' Association Cheng Kheng said early this week that a group of Cambodian real estate experts were co-ordinating an investment in Cambodia's agricultural industry for two big companies from Malaysia.

"We reserve the right not to disclose the name and detail of these two companies and in the near future, we will officially announce the identity of these renowned companies," Kheng said.

"Our hope is at 95 per cent to bring these two companies into Cambodia," he said.

"During this last stage, we are searching to buy rubber plantations in Cambodia between 5000 and 15,000 hectares for this company. Cambodian experts have evaluated the actual market price in Cambodia and have informed this first company that the current price is between $20,000 and $25,000 per hectare.

"If we compare the price in Malaysia, it is up to $50,000 and $60,000 per hectare."

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Kheng said he was more than 90 per cent hopeful the other Malaysian company wold make an investment.

"The second company has a long history in Malaysia and is well-known in the agriculture and agro-industry sector.

"In Malaysia, they have much experience in oil palm, rubber and sugar cane."

According to the research, the land in Cambodia may be more productive for this company, Kheng said.

"We are looking to buy from owners or villagers and we want between 10,000 and 20,000 hectares. It may be empty land or plantation."

The two Malaysian companies were optimistic the fertile land in Cambodia would give high rubber yields as well as other crops, he said.

<em>Phnom Penh property expert David Murphy, of Independent Property Services, looks at residential prospects in two suburbs of our the popular Riverside area. </em>

The suburbs of Daun Penh and Tonle Bassac are located on the banks of the Tonle Bassac River, and are loosely bounded bythe Japanese Friendship Bridge (Road 70) to the North, Monivong Boulevard to the west and extending down to the Monivong Bridge to the south. It's the area that best defines Phnom Penh's nightlife, with its plethora of Riverside restaurants and the nightlife scene at the heart of Daun Penh on Street 51.

Like most of Phnom Penh, these areas are undergoing some rapid development. New construction is seen on most streets and green shade-cloth draped buildings dot the skyline. Much of this development is for commercial purposes, but you can also notice some new residential apartment construction, as well as a number of renovations of older-style shopfront housing to more comfortably meet modern tastes.

The suburb of Daun Penh has a contrast in residential style housing, with a clear delineation of the form of housing available. To the east, from the riverside to Norodom Boulevard, the housing is dominated by shophouse style accommodation. From Norodom Boulevard west to Monivong Boulevard, there is much more of a mix of housing styles, with many more villas in this area to cater for larger families or those wanting more open space.

By contrast, the Tonle Bassac area contains a number of small alleys and roads that branch off the larger boulevards, creating a suburb that has quiet leafy streets with mixed villa and shopfront housing in among the hustle and bustle of inner city Phnom Penh.

In recent times, there has been some considerable development of the western shore of the Bassac River, giving rise to the Sofitel Hotel, Diamond Island developments, some gated communities developments including Elite Town and the ever expanding Bassac Garden City and the Naga World complex.

The riverside area has seen some development such as the KyNy Apartment complex and Seasons Residence and a variety of refurbished shopfront apartments, some of which offer fantastic river views.

Residential housing options for these areas consist mainly of shopfront apartments in the high-density areas near the riverside and villas in the area away from riverbank, or in the gated communities of southern part of Tonle Bassac.

Shopfront apartments in this area are commonly priced between $350 and $700 per calendar month, and are mostly one to two bedroom properties with a business of some sort on the ground floor.

Villas in these areas are in the higher price range for Phnom Penh, and can range from $2,500 to $4,000 pcm depending on their size and condition.

There are a number of apartment options in the riverside area including dKSanctuary, Green Mansion 1, 2 and 3, the fantastic BassacTower, the high-end Samdech Pan, the stylish Syphon and the riverside KyNy complex.

Two-bedroom apartments in these complexes are priced at about $900 to $1500, but can go as high as $3000 for the high-end options.

The riverside area remains the heart of Phnom Penh. It is densely populated and is pulsing with constant activity.

Daytime hours see the area busy with workers and shop owners plying their trade, and with the coming of dusk it heralds a change in the atmosphere, with restaurants and bars opening and the streets filled with locals, expatriates and tourists revelling in the diversity of entertainment options for them to enjoy.

Saturday night traffic jams can sometimes mean it's even faster to go by foot in peak hour than in a tuk-tuk.

The Riverside suburbs are great for those people where space is an afterthought and who instead want a convenient location coupled with the desire to experience the heartbeat of the city that only these areas can provide.

<em>David Murphy is Managing Director of Independent Property Services. He can be contacted on 077 959 861; inquiry@independentpropertyservices.com; or check out their website at www.independentpropertyservices.com.</em>

It's 60 years since the French were dominating Phnom Penh's architecture, so should we now be battling to save it, or other parts of our country's heritage?

As Cambodia on Saturday celebrates the 60th anniversary of independence from France, the Phnom Penh property market is still in a quandary about how much colonial architectural heritage should be preserved.

Many historic buildings have already gone, some are on the brink of survival, while others, restored close to their former glory, are testament to how the city earned its reputation of once being the Pearl of Asia.

Just how much French architectural heritage should be saved and at what cost has become a contentious issue. The legacy constitutes part of Phnom Penh's identity, but some believe the New Khmer Architecture is more vulnerable than its European predecessor. Others believe in development at all cost.

Andeol Cadin, a French architect resident in Phnom Penh for nine years, said this week the preservation of French colonial architecture was a culturally sensitive issue.

He was reiterating the thoughts of others earlier this year, notably fellow architect and Khmer Architecture Tours guide Yam Sokly and Royal University of Phnom Penh linguistic professor Jean-Michel Fillippi.

Whereas the preservation of any noteworthy architecture was in itself worthwhile, Cadin said there were many competing interests in Cambodia that had to be balanced and many perspectives taken into account.

"We all like to see historic buildings preserved, but you have to see it in a cultural context," he said. "For instance, although there are still many French colonial buildings preserved in Phnom Penh, and many that still could be, the number of outstanding examples of the New Khmer Architecture is rapidly declining," he said.

"It is quite possible that within a few years there may be none left at all.

"The New Khmer Architecture movement is globally recognised – that's how important it is. So no one could blame people concerned about Cambodian culture to be putting more effort into rescuing those examples. Perhaps that's where the focus and efforts should be."

Yam Sokly said this week there had been a few more demolitions of French colonial architecture since the start of year, but that so far he wasn't aware of any further buildings being restored.

Sokly said the famous colonial police commissariat (on the corner of Street 13 and 98 and pictured on the front page) did not appear to be deteriorating any more rapidly than before.

"It is slightly damaged and deteriorated. But off course, with proper maintenance every building will be slowly deteriorating," he said. "It will be quite a long time before that building is no longer able be rescued. Because the building's structure is super strong. So far, no serious cracks have appeared on the walls.

Sokly said he still held out hopes for Postal Square becoming a protected heritage zone.

"There has been lots of discussion on that issue. Off course, Town Hall has is planning something and the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is working to propose it as a protected area in the future.

"There is a semi-formal registration (of historic buildings) by the municipality and the government of Cambodia. That registration includes the date of the location, date of construction, style of the building, a short description of the master plan of the building, and some other information too."

Sokly's business, Khmer Architecture Tours, will be holding a cyclo tour of historic Phnom Penh sites next Sunday (email contact@ka-tours.org).

Sokly said at the start of the year that the city's urban design philosophy stood at a crossroad: it could become Paris, where old buildings spanning back centuries have been well preserved; or New York, where urban preservation failed to take hold in time to save much of its architectural heritage.

Fillippi, who wrote the book Strolling Around Phnom Penh, said in January: "You can't protect at any cost, that's impossible."

"You should find solutions of compromise here and there that will still preserve the appearance of a building," he said.

While the appearance of an old building may be preserved, its function may have to be dramatically overhauled for the needs of a modern society.

"You should find solutions of compromise here and there that will still preserve the appearance of a building."

Filippi suggests that a similar solution be found for the commissariat.

"You could destroy the interior but keep the façade," he says. "I think that such compromises will be the rule in the coming years."

Filippi believes the overall prognosis for Cambodia's French cultural heritage is positive.

"I don't think that the French heritage is endangered in any sense.

"We have enough French buildings here, comparatively much more than in Saigon."

However, he believes the New Khmer Architecture is more vulnerable than the French, due to the former's emphasis on external space.

"In the '60s, space was an essential notion of architecture. Not only the building itself, but what surrounded the building was absolutely essential. And of course, that space which was part of that architectural composition is threatened because they now build everything they can around it."

Such was the case with Vann Molyvann's Olympic Stadium, which originally contained a series of pools surrounding the complex that were designed to absorb flood waters during the rainy season.

However, that area was filled in with new structures when a Taiwanese firm developed the area in 2000. In addition to harming Vann Molyvann's architectural vision, the modification has increased incidences of flooding in the area.

"It is a very dubious conception," Filippi says.

Such intentional functionality was an integral part of the New Khmer Architecture movement which, according to Fillippi, was unique in the region for its combination of brilliant aesthetics and striking practicality.

"I think it is one of the most original types of architecture. Cambodia was the only country in the '60s to have this modern, functional architecture in Southeast Asia."

Parts of this article were previously published in the Post by staff writer Bennett Murray.

Following the success of its residential projects, the 999 project developer has started to break ground to build Moscow City along Street 271.

The Moscow part of the street is planned to have a department store and a 15-storey condominium near the Khmer and Soviet Friendship Hospital.

Sales manager Duong Phavy said the developer of the 999 town project was planning to build a four-storey department store and a new condo building to be completed in 48 months and launched in 2017. She added that the developer thought it sold its 999 town project well and that it expected the new project would not be a problem.

"We would be successful because our previous projects were a success. We sell well because our construction is of good quality and affordable, and we use engineers from Singapore and Malaysia," she said.

The stores in the four-storey department development would be sold for $20,000 to $36,000, while the company expects the condos to fetch from $50,000 to $68,000, she said, adding that customers who bought stores and condos would be likely to be able to obtain loans from BIDC.

However, Phavy did not confirm the total capital investment of the project.

Po Eav Kong, managing director of Asia Real Estate Cambodia Company Ltd, said that the building of a department store near the condominium development was to increase the attractiveness of the project, because there would be a Sovanna supermarket near there.

"The success or failure of a project depends on the construction quality. To what extent will the customer trust [it] and is the price appropriate? If the above project sells at such a price and if the units are from 30 to 40 square meters, I believe it will be successful. Condos in Cambodia have not yet faced any problems, if the price is good, because this project is in good location," he said.

However, Eav Kong recommended that the developer consider the location, because it was in the main road and may cause disturbances to residents. Beung Keng Kang was very attractive, because it was quiet, with little noise, he said.

The house always wins, except when there's a disputed election scaring gamblers away from the tables.

That's the message from Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc, which operates casinos in Poipet town and Pailin province as well as supplying NagaWorld casino with slot machines.

According to the company, Cambodia's national elections in July, the results of which the opposition party still refuses to accept, are partially to blame for losses of some $309,000 in the third quarter of this year.

"In NagaWorld, we experienced lower player traffic levels as a result of events related to the national Cambodian elections held in July 2013,"said Clarence Chung, chairman and chief executive officer of Hong Kong-based Entertainment Gaming Asia, during a conference call with investors on Tuesday.

Chung did not go into more detail about what kept the players from gambling, but it may have been as simple as access. Since July 28, the day of the poll, several roads in the area have been cut off due to intermittent protests.

NagaWorld is also a stone's throw away from the National Assembly, whose inaugural session, boycotted by opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers, made authorities drape Phnom Penh in road blocks and razor wire. The opposition wants an investigation into alleged voting irregularities that its members say cost them extra parliamentary positions.

NagaWorld representatives declined to comment yesterday on the drop in player traffic during the third quarter reported by EGA.

Figures released in October by NagaWorld itself showed a third-quarter slowdown in cash spent on tables and slot machines. Entertainment Gaming Asia both supplies the machines and takes a portion of the profit from them.

CIMB gaming analyst Michael Ting said that the quarter was a bit weak for Naga in the realm of mass market gambling, which refers to the majority of players who enter the casino, and that the poor performance could be attributed to post-election tension.

Mass-market income for NagaWorld climbed from $625 million in the first half of 2012 to $750 million for the same period of 2013, representing close to a 20 per cent year-on-year increase.

The positive trend could not be sustained, however. The figures from September show a rise from $342 million in the third quarter of 2012 to $366 million for the same period in 2013, an increase of less than seven per cent.

Despite the sluggishness, CIMB's Ting pointed out that high rollers had not been deterred by bothersome election tensions.

"The VIP was very strong due to some new initiatives such as a new junket revenue sharing program and targeting out of country VIP players from places such as China." he said.

This is not the first time politics has shaken sections of the economy.

In October, Cambodia's largest commercial bank, Acleda, lost $200 million in deposits over the third quarter as customers feared for the security of their savings during demonstrations and potential turmoil.

Acleda president and CEO In Channy claimed at the time that within nearly a week in October, close to $186.5 million had been returned.

Despite the third-quarter loss for Entertainment Gaming Asia, CEO Chung is still confident that the company is positioning itself for strong growth.

"Our gaming operations are a key component of our growth strategies and we are actively pursuing new projects in existing ready player markets that we believe will add meaningful scales to our operations," he said.

As well as its casino operations in Cambodia, EGA has a gaming presence in the Philippines and also produces gaming chips.

Alluding to an ongoing partnership with Cambodia's Sokimex-owned Sokha Hotel Co to supply gaming machines at the Thansur Bokor Highland resort in Kampot province, Chung hinted that EGA would be looking to deepen the relationship with the company.

"We are also building a very good rapport and relationship with this group, and hopefully we can enter into a co-operation with their other properties elsewhere in the Cambodia area," he said.

Gamblers and pawn-shop owners at NagaWorld yesterday confirmed that there had been a decrease in activity over the past few months at the casino but stopped short of attributing it to the political situation.

"If I have money, I come," said Srey Neang yesterday at NagaWorld, where he gambles twice a week. "When I lose money gambling, then I have less money to come as often as before."

Opposition leaders have given the ruling party an ultimatum: Agree to our demands by the end of the year or the talks are over.

Kem Sokha, Cambodia National Rescue Party deputy president, said yesterday that after discussing the matter with party president Sam Rainsy, they had decided to issue the ultimatum and warn the authorities that further mass demonstrations would be held if they did not comply.

"We give the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) from now until the end of the year. If we can't determine the reality of the election irregularities by then we have a new plan – negotiations will be over," he said.

Sokha added that if the party's demands – an independent electoral investigation, the resignation of members of the National Election Committee and the implementation of reforms recommended by the UN and election monitors – were not met, rallies that would dwarf those held in late October would be organised.

The announcement came less than a week after Rainsy said his party would not set pre-conditions for talks with the CPP. The parties held a largely fruitless discussion on Tuesday, pledging to hold more meetings in the future.

The ruling party has thus far refused to discuss an electoral investigation, pointing to a September 16 agreement between the parties that committed only to electoral reform.

Prum Sokha, secretary of state at the Interior Ministry, said it would be difficult for the CPP to accept all the demands of the opposition, adding the move was probably a bid to score political points coming so soon after the public withdrawal of pre-conditions.

The CNRP could be making this announcement "out of more political than legal motivations", he said. "No one can force the NEC to resign because it's an independent institution founded in the law."

While the new two-month deadline for dialogue would be enough time to yield results, Cambodian Center for Human Rights president Ou Virak called for patience from both sides to end the deadlock.

"The main national interest is to keep both sides at the negotiation table," he said. "If [they] want fast [results], they should state clearly how to achieve it."

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY DANIEL PYE

Provincial military police confiscated three tractors transporting three metres of luxury wood and two circular saws travelling out of Kampong Speu's protected Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday.

Chea Hean, director of Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation (NRWPO), arrived to investigate illegal logging in the sanctuary on Tuesday.

"They transport timber out of the sanctuary without any crackdowns. If we do not ask for intervention nothing is done," Hean said yesterday.

In October, anti-logging activists submitted two separate letters to the National Assembly and Royal cabinet, asking for clearer demarcation of national parks in an effort to better combat deforestation.

The submission followed NRWPO's submission of a 9-page-letter on October 8 to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, listing 241 officials it suspects of illegal deforestation.

In a separate case, Hean said he received a copy of a letter from 48 families in Oral district to the Ministry of Environment asking the government to clearly mark protected areas and investigate illegal logging.

An employee at conservation group Fauna and Flora International, unauthorised to speak to the press, was unsurprised that "rampant" illegal logging was under way and crackdowns in the protected area

remain few and far between.
Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2011 awarded more than 17,000 hectares of the protected Phnom Oral Forest to private, unspecified companies for agro-industrial development.

Chhun Chhie Heng, director of the sanctuary, and deputy director Soeng Bunhen could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Forestry Administration officers sent two suspected wildlife smugglers to court in Stung Treng province yesterday after they were arrested while allegedly smuggling disembodied heads and hooves of the increasingly rare Chinese serow – a type of wild goat – into Cambodia from Laos, officials said.

Provincial Forestry Administration director Iev Ektha Savatty said that the suspects Ou Vandy, 40, and an accomplice whose name he could not provide, were arrested on Tuesday, and reportedly confessed to transporting the five serow heads and 20 hooves from Pakse, Laos, in order to sell them in Kratie.

"We have [preliminarily] charged the two suspects with transporting and trading wildlife illegally. On Wednesday afternoon our men sent them and the evidence to the provincial court," he said.

According to Kratie provincial police chief Reach Sokhon, the men may have been trying to pass off the serow as hog deer, an even rarer and more valuable mammal, hunted for its purported medicinal value in treating postpartum conditions, pain and broken bones.

"Some brokers always cheat the people about this wild animal because the people do not know exactly about the hog deer or the other kinds of deer. Some wild animals that I used to see looked like goats," Sokhon said.

Eak Vandy, a Stung Treng military police commander who participated in the crackdown, said suspect Vandy had pegged the price of one 45- to 70-kilogram hog deer at as much as $1,200.

However, serow are also "in significant decline", according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Sarah Brook, a flagship species officer for Flora and Fauna International, said yesterday that serow, like hog deer, are also at risk of poaching.

"There is trade in serow parts for medicinal value," Brook said, noting that serow favour forested habitats across the region. "But because there is a trade, they face hunting everywhere they are."

A forestry administrative official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said a wildlife trader could face anywhere from five to 10 years in prison.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STUART WHITE