Ire and ore: Demands grow for clarity around Cambodian gold mine

A gold mine in the remote northern Cambodian province of Preah Vihear is being opposed by local people who claim they have lost their land and are being manipulated by authorities acting for the mining company. On January 12, residents from the affected village of Tropeang Tontem in Rovieng district submitted a petition to the government Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. It complained about their treatment by local officials and the company allegedly responsible, Delcom Cambodia Pte Ltd. According to the Phnom Penh Post, the petition statement was signed by 56 families.  Translated from Khmer to English, it states that government and company officials “forced us, coerced us and cheated us into thumb-printing a document that stated that we were farming on part of the company‘s land.” The statement requested that the document be “annulled in its entirety.” The mine site near Tropeang Tontem. Image courtesy of Mother Nature Cambodia According to local reports, the mine has been expanding since Delcom first obtained a license in 1994. Residents say encroachment on village farmlands and forest by the mine escalated in 2015. “We are completely opposed to this mine continuing its operations until there is a detailed, impartial and independent investigation of the alleged human rights abuses that continue to occur there – which include land-theft,” Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, Director of watchdog organization Mother Nature Cambodia (MNC), said in an interview with Mongabay. Local residents tell of heavy-handed tactics used by Delcom when, in 2011, they say its security…

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