Phnom Penh, Nearly 198,000 square metres of mine-contaminated land in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province has been cleared and handed over to the local community under an India-backed project, benefiting around 134 families, according to authorities and media reports.
The land in Kaoh Pao village was handed over to residents, with Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Phnom Penh, Tanu Priya, joining Cambodian officials at the ceremony, the embassy said in a post on X on Thursday.
The cleared land will provide residents with safe access for farming, housing, livelihoods and other socio-economic activities, the report said. The ceremony on Thursday was attended by Tep Kallyan, Deputy Secretary General of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, and Y Nearynet, Deputy Governor of Koh Kong province, the Khmer Times newspaper reported on Sunday.
Because decades of war and conflict have left large parts of the country contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance, large swathes of land in Cambodia require demining. These remnants continue to threaten communities and restrict access to land used for farming, housing and development.
