The businesses on Otres beach, in Sihanoukville Province on Cambodia’s south coast, will be demolished within a fortnight, according to an eviction notice served by government officials. The beach is popular with Western tourists because it has so far been left alone by big developers, creating a laid back, independent atmosphere.
“I don’t have the money to buy a new business,” said Sam, a Cambodian women and co-owner of Pappa Pippo, a restaurant and bungalow popular for its homemade pasta. “My daughter goes to school; what will she do? And our staff, they have no money, what will they do?”
The beach attracts a mix of backpackers and mature tourists who come for the warm, clear waters and the unbroken three-mile stretch of powdery sand.
“It’s awful,” says Ginelle, a backpacker from Alaska. “Are they just going to put up another soulless big development?”
Not necessarily, according to provincial governor, Yun Min. “The removal is in the public interest,” he said at a press conference last Saturday. He cited “environmental concerns” as the reason behind the eviction and stressed the need to “preserve the beach for future generations.” The governor said it wasn’t his policy to harm people’s businesses but they would still be evicted “because this is our law.”
Otres beach, along with most of the land on Cambodia’s south coast, was designated as “state public land” under the 1992 Land Law making it illegal to buy or sell. At that time, the kingdom was in the last throws of a civil war that had raged since the fall of the Maoist Khmer Rouge regime in 1979; tourists were giving the country a wide-berth and no-one wanted to invest in such an unstable region.
But long-term stability and incentives to attract foreign investors have created a recent boom in the Cambodian tourist industry. Tourist traffic has more than doubled since 2006 with 4.8 million tourists visiting the kingdom last year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Tourism. The ministry is preparing to welcome eight million visitors by 2020.
All this has made coastline properties extremely valuable. Prime Minister Hun Sen changed the designation of the southern coast and it’s small, Thai-style islands in 2007 allowing for their sale. It prompted an all-islands-must-go rush. Fishing communities and independent tourist retreats built on what used to be public land were turfed out. Otres is the latest.
Despite purchasing leases and “soft deeds” from the local government – recent prices ranged from £35,000 - £70,000, according to a report in the Phnom Penh Post – vendors don’t have a legal leg to stand on. “There will be no compensation,” said Yun Min.
Many believe the construction of a large development on Otres, widely regarded as the most beautiful beach in Cambodia, is not so much as question of if, but when. In 2010, bulldozers cleared 1,500 metres in the middle of Otres. The land had been sold, two years previously, to provincial governer, Sbaung Sarath and Queenco, a casino company listed in London.
According to the Queenco website, “The company intends to develop an entertainment centerthat will include up to 3,000 hotel rooms and condominium units, a casino and an entertainment centre.” But the land remains empty, and has become a picnic spot for tourists and locals. It’s promoted speculation as to whether the company are waiting to acquire the rest of Otres or sell it on.
Investment is needed in Cambodia, a cash-strapped nation with a pressing need for the tourist pound but for the vendors and foreigners who love Otres for its unspoiled beauty the change is very difficult. “We can’t do anything about the eviction,” says one local vendor who requested anonymity out of fear of possible reprisals from officials. “We can’t fight them, we can only cry.”
By Nathan Thompson, the Telegraph, March 3, 2016
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