The Boeung Kak Lake Farce…
So a Chinese investors pulls out of the Boeung Kak lake development, letting the air out of a bloated balloon…
It is an old story by now, but with this split the last chapter of the Boeung Kak lake has not been written yet: 3000 families were evicted from Boeung Kak lake by a development company, a lake which collected excess of rainwaters was filled with sand, land rights activists were intimidated, beaten, imprisoned, committed suicide, pleas from desperate families were ignored, promises were broken, alliances were bought, more than hundred demonstrations were held at the Municipality, at the Asian Development Bank, at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, at the Appeals Court, at the foreign embassies…
The only positive thing which emerged from this arrogant, dirty, marshy development endeavour is the rise of a group of loud-mouthed and fearless women which relentlessly stand up for their rights, finding ways to attract the attention not only of the media when pushing their agenda, but of the general public as well. The Boeung Kak lake ladies stand as an example for many in Cambodia. They are the noisy and disturbing tip of the iceberg.
These days the iceberg is under threat of a brutal meltdown, these voices are in danger of being shut up.
Having followed their struggle since the very beginning was/is a privilege. Their story, together with many other stories on land issues since the year 2000 can be found in the app ‘Quest for Land’, with photographs by yours truly and long, in-depth reports by Robert Carmichael. The app can be purchased on iTunes at THIS LINK.
