"Villagers Accuse UK Firm of Failing to Pay Compensation in Sugar Dispute", 26 December 2019

The Ministry of Land Management ... denied requests to intervene in a Koh Kong sugar land dispute following villagers’ protests that foreign firms had failed to provide promised compensation for their evictions.

..., more than 100 villagers, representing about 200 families in Chi Khor Leu commune in Sre Ambel district, gathered in front of the Ministry of Land Management. They urged minister Chea Sophara to intervene as they claimed London-based buyer company Tate & Lyle Sugars had promised to compensate them $6,000 per family.

Eang Vuthy, director of land rights organization Equitable Cambodia, which works on the case, confirmed that there had been a settlement agreement, but declined to specify the amount due to confidentiality issues. “The agreement was signed 4-5 years ago between the 200 households, KSL and Tate&Lyle,” he told...

The ministry said in a notice ... that it could not intervene in the case as it concerned a contract dispute, and asked the villagers’ representatives to file a legal complaint instead.

Representative Im Sokhorn expressed her disappointment over the ministry’s decision...

Claire Crill, Tate & Lyle Sugars’ head of corporate affairs, told ... that discussions were ongoing. “A spokesperson for T&L Sugars said that the company was still in discussions with the representatives of the villagers. All parties have agreed that the discussions remain confidential and so it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage,” she said in an email. Tate & Lyle Sugars was split off from Tate & Lyle in 2010...