* DOCUMENT : 22

Cambodia Update, August 2007

These are Somsook's notes on the UPDF's work in Cambodia, from her one-day visit to Phnom Penh (with Natvipa) on Saturday, August 4, 2007.  

This is  government resettlement colonies for renters and late-coming squatters relocated from Basaac in May-June 2006.  The site is near the airport so we went there first.

Background on Phum Andoung :  Tonle Basaac was one of the first and largest squatter settlements in Phnom Penh.  Over the past 10 years, there have been many attempts to upgrade parts of Basaac, and several land-sharing plans have also been proposed for the area.  But because the settlement was located at the prime, river-side real-estate in the very center of the city, Basaac has been the target for several large-scale evictions over the years, some with relocation and some without.  In the most recent eviction, in June 2006, the government forcefully evicted the last remaining 1,400 families from the Samok Chab area of Basaac, to make way for the government projects and construction of a casino.  A huge resettlement colony was developed by the Municipality to relocate the evicted structure-owners at Tropeing Angchan, 24 kms from Basaac, where those on the list got free 60-square meter plots with some infrastructure. 

But there were also hundreds of renters, extended families and recent squatters whose names were not on the city's beneficiary list, and who did not qualify for free plots in Tropeing Angchan.  For these evictees, who are some of the poorest and most vulnerable of the city's poor, the government had no resettlement plan initially.  After all these families (and many extra!) had set themselves up in great shaggy encampments along the edges of the resettlement site, the Municipality was finally persuaded to develop a second resettlement site a little closer to the city, at Phum Andoung (in Sangkat Kok Roka, Dangkao District), for renters evicted from Basaac.  

A municipal survey conducted just before the eviction counted 364 "real renters" in the Basaac area, so at Phum Andoung, the Municipality started with a 1-hectare piece of land, which was sufficient to accommodate about 300 of these families.  But as soon as word got out that resettlement plots were to be provided for Basaac renters, the number of families waiting for these free plots swelled.  By August 2006, almost 2,000 "renter"  families were camping out in tents and squalid shelters around this second resettlement site, hoping to be granted plots.  With no proper survey or allotment process, nobody seemed to know who was really from Basaac and who wasn't. 

The Municipality purchased an additional 3 hectares of adjacent farmland, and finally, the expanded Phum Andoung colony was able to accommodate 777 families, on plots of 24 square meters (4m x 6m) each.  Most of these families were somehow determined by the Municipality to have actually stayed in Basaac before the eviction.  But even a year later, there are still 300 families camping out along the fringes of the Phum Andoung colony, waiting to be allotted plots they claim they should also have a right to.

The land at Phum Andoung was previously fallow rice fields.  The Municipality bought it and divided it up into rows of 24-square meter plots without much site preparation, without laying sufficient infrastructure and facilities, and very little land-filling, so there were problems from the start of flooding.  During the first months, conditions at Phum Andoung were very bad:  no toilets, only plastic sheets provided to people for shelter, bags of rice being given out as charity by Japanese and Korean aid groups.  Water was originally provided in big tanks by UNICEF, but after a month, they left. 

Over the past year, the situation has settled down a bit, and the new Phum Andoung settlement is gradually coming to life, conditions are slowly improving, people seem to be doing better, many jobs available in the area.  The municipality has provided some public toilets (through a Singapore private sector donation) and space for a fresh market.  But Housing conditions and infrastructure are still very basic and insufficient, though.  No drains of paved roads - just earth streets and dugout earth drains. 

The people told us it costs about $100 to build a bamboo and palm-thatch house.  Most of the houses in Phum Andoung are like that.  It's not cheap, but people can stay in them for a while, until they save enough to build a more permanent house.  Some houses have a plan to improve.  UPDF has already granted about 50 house improvement  and some income generation loans to the community saving groups for house improvement , income generation activities and for buying 5 tuk-tuk for community transport to the city.  The houses that receive the loans have started the construction very actively .  The loan per family is only 500 US$ maximum which enable the loanees to build two story houses with concrete structure.

Community center and savings office :  A simple tin-sheet building that UPDF put up to serve as a community center and savings office, meeting place, etc.  People come and chat and there are meetings about many things every day.    

Partnership for improvements to the new market :  The market is the most lively place in the community.  Lots of sellers and buyers.  When we were there, people were complaining that the market area that the municipality provided was dirty, with muddy lanes .  Mr. Mann Chhoeurn, who was with us, proposed to the people on the spot, "Why don't we improve it together?  If you can all contribute and do the work together, I will match that contribution and double it."  And the people said why not, we can start collecting the money right now and continue this week and we can start the construction next week.  A good group of market vendors gathered and began pulling out money to contribute to the market construction.  Mr. Mann Chhoeurn also pulled some money from his pocket.  A woman together with the community chief was designated to gather the money and take care of the money.  Immediate!  They will start the construction this week, right away.  Their plans are to pave the market, lay drains and perhaps build a proper roof over the market.  No need to spend huge amounts, just a little improvement to make this informal street market cleaner and easier to walk through.

New "Singapore-style" Toilets :  Mr. Mann Chhoeurn was telling us that a Singaporean company wanted to assist this community, so the Municipality asked them to build these public toilets at Phum Andoung.  But they built such fancy, fully-tiled, gleaming toilets (blue for women, pink for men!), that people in the settlement are reluctant to use them, and poop on the open ground around these shiny new toilets!  Could be the people still don't feel ownership and too new for people.  The man who was cleaning the toilets when we visited said he has so many problems with the people, because people come and don't know how to use these toilets!  It seems so simple:  you just go in, close the door and do your business, right?  But many people don't go in, it's new to their experience.  So they are organizing a "Toilet Use" training session. 

This is always a problem when things are given as a "gift" with very good intention to communities, without their involvement, and people don't take care.  We discussed with Somsak about how to possibly set up an organization system where people take care of these toilets collectively.       

Korean volunteers help fill in ruts in the roads after rain :  A private-sector Korean company in the neighborhood sent 20 of its employees to help bring sand and fill in the mud-filled holes in the road.   Sometimes the companies and factories in the area (some of which may employ Phum Andoung residents) send in volunteers to help the community in different ways. 

 
What UPDF has been doing so far in Phum Andoung : 

• Conducted surveys :  Since the eviction over a year ago, the UPDF and community network leaders from other parts of the city have conducted several surveys in Phum Andoung.
• Set up savings groups : The UPDF and the networks have also helped organize the people by setting up daily savings groups throughout the settlement, as much as possible, to organize the community and to prepare people to manage income generation loans and housing loans as soon as possible.  For this, they have used a group system, in which 10 families are in a single group, and 3-5 groups together form a savings group, so 30-50 households comprise a savings group.  This is a new system being tested in Phum Andoung to get people together, to begin building mutual support systems in this new community, and to get people to start deciding things together.  As UPDF staff Somsak says, "We start with action, not shouting at the government!"  
• Started giving loans :  Once savings groups get themselves organized and have a little experience saving and giving loans to their members from their own collective savings, they can send loan proposals to UPDF.  UPDF has so far given pilot housing improvement loans of $500 to about 20 families, as well as smaller income-generation loans to hundreds of households and a few loans for people to buy various kinds of tuk-tuks to set up businesses to transport people into the city.    

On the way, we passed a great pile of rubble, where a posh development of expensive, brand-new villas for rich people  in the big lake had recently been demolished.  Close to the airport.   It is very interesting to know about the story and I tell this story partly to show the kind of politics of the country.

• In this project, a very big businessman from Taiwan, said to have good connections with politicians, got some sort of special  rights to develop a big piece of land by filling the land into the big lake..  It was to be a housing project for rich people - big villas that were to sell for something like US$250,000 per unit.  As part of the agreement, the company was allowed to fill in and reclaim land that was originally part of the lake.  But instead of filling in the 30 hectares they were allowed, they filled in and reclaimed about 100 hectares of land and started to construct those big houses and other infrastructure
• Then there were people reporting about this case, and the prime minister wasn't happy.  So he ordered the company to stop work immediately and to dig out the extra land they had illegally filled - within seven days!  And it happened that the company couldn't do so, so the Prime Minister ordered 300 soldiers with all heavy equipments  and demolition machines to smash all the 20 villas that had already been built.  So all those rich villas were torn down and their rights to develop the project is not certain now.  So there are problems since some buyers have already bought them.
• It was like an eviction - but an eviction of the rich.            

This is the area near the airport where several other communities have resettled, in community-driven resettlement projects from Block Tan Paa and various other roadside settlements.  One of the projects that will be proposed in the UPDF meeting on August 9, 2007, is a project to get a UPDF loan to collectively purchase alternative land for a  resettlement project. 

It's good land, located next to the street, close to jobs, but could still be costlyfor the poor  Now, the land is rice fields and will need to be filled.  The cost of the land is about $15 - $20 per square meter, which sounds rather expensive for this poor country.  About six months ago, they proposed to UPDF for a loan to purchase some other land for resettlement, but we were all a little uneasy about the cost of land being so high, and worried that people would not be able to repay to loan.  Then, because of that, they went back out searching and tried to negotiate another piece of cheaper land.  So this land they found, and seems to be about as cheap as possible.  Location was good.  Close to the airport.    Along the street from the airport to this community and to Phum Andong community, several pieces of land in the vast rice field along the street have been filled for land development projects all over the place.

At Kok Kleang, we started asking about land prices.  The people told us that land prices - even in these peripheral areas of the city - are increasing tremendously these days.  If you buy a piece of land today, a year from now you can sell it for at least double what you bought it for.  In all the suburban land around the city, there is now a great motivation for land speculation, land grabbing by many agents of land speculators and investors. 

• Land speculation is the new gold mine in Cambodia now, I think, and represents a great threat to people's access to land for housing.  Not only in Phnom Penh, but could be all over the country.  Why?  Because Phnom Penh has come under the process of urbanization at a time when there are so many sharks in the world!  So the money from outside - from various countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand etc., - is pouring into Cambodia for investment opportunities and to set up companies with local people and buy up land. 
• Big companies are doing their own kind of "land pooling" :  Somsak was telling us that some of the big companies are purchasing small pieces of land from farmers to put together into a big plot of land.  They don't necessarily use this land themselves, but sell it on - at great profit - to other big companies which then either hold on to it speculatively or use it for their commercial projects.  The big companies want big pieces of land.  Since the land prices are doubling in a year, the buying and selling of land is becoming a business opportunity, even without any development on that land. 
• Therefore land speculation is becoming one of the key factors leading to evictions of poor people settlements in the city or in the subburb  This is the country that is quite open up economically, and there are so many speculators, investors and money markets coming into Cambodia.  And land is the biggest valuable commodity.  The government seems to support the private sectors to help build supply for housing.  However, there seems to be problematic bureaucracy to still prevent real estate housing development to boom but land buying, subdividing and speculating seems an easier business.  
• It is mostly foreign capital that is fueling this speculation.  Of course the local people may join into this speculative activity, and may sneak into getting the rights to certain pieces of land through politicians.  I am just afraid that this phenomenon is now probably predominating development in Cambodia. 
• And these speculative forces are now what is now determining the shape of the city - not planning! 

We also visited  the river-side Cham (Muslim) communities, on the other side of the Tonle Sap River, opposite the Royal Palace.  Many communities over there have now taken small upgrading grants of no more than $5,000 (from the MISEREOR upgrading budget) and laid beautiful walkways and drainage lines throughout their settlements - many using colorful non-skid tiles in vivid greens, yellows and reds.  Once they complete the walkways, people along the way start putting flowers and shrubs and plants.  It changes the character of the community completely, this small investment of $5,000!

These adjacent communities are not right on the river, but on the inside of the road and public park along the river front.  Mostly fishermen and vegetable sellers, moto dub drivers.  People have stayed here since 1979, but before Pol Pot, they lived here for a long time.  A very beautiful settlement, with room for lots of trees and beautiful construction details in the Cham style houses – mostly built up on stilts with beautiful stairways painted vivid colors.  Very friendly community – lots of smiles and everyone gets along.  Visal says the Cham communities are like that, very tightly-knit and strong togetherness. 

• 182 houses in the community (with 247 families) and total population of 988
• 86 families are savings members, very good savings in this community, every month deposit with UPDF, savings about
• Upgrading projects :  laid a beautiful concrete walkway (with drains at side) throughout the whole settlement (260 meters long x 1.2 meters wide) with patterned colored non-slip tiles on top.  Total cost was $3,204, of which only $2,800 was a grant from UPDF)
• Fancy colored tiles :   The leader tells us it was no more expensive to use these colored tiles than using plain concrete, and later on, if they decide to raise the level of the walkway, they can remove the tiles and re-lay them on the higher base.  Now, in many of the new upgrading projects, other communities are using similar tiles, rather than plain concrete.  The idea has caught on!
• The whole project took only 1 month, with everyone pitching in, all community labor. 
• Decided to make the walkway narrower :  originally, everyone wanted a 2m wide walkway, but they found it wasn't necessary – 1.2 meters was fine, plenty of space for carts and motorcycles and people, and they saved a lot of money making it narrower.  No need to bring any cars in here!  Gave a friendlier feeling, more a quiet walkway than a roadway! 
• All communities contribute at least 10% of the cost of the upgrading project from their own pockets, and do all the work themselves.  That's one of UPDF's conditions.  Also, most use their own volunteer community labor, rather than hiring contractors.  At most, they might hire a few skilled masons or plumbers. 
• Houses moved back :  To straighten out and widen the space for the new walkway, a lot of houses agreed to move back, reblock.   19 families have taken house improvement loans (total $8,550).
• Future upgrading plans :  Now, have to extend the paved walkway into the neighboring communities, so it makes a continuous access for all the communities along the river.
• Now the community start the planting which makes green community

During the visit, we discussed a lot about the UPDF's 10th anniversary in May 2008.  This is quite significant.

• Institutionalizing UPDF into the Cambodian system :  ACHR may have to write a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen to propose for the way to institutionalize the UPDF into the Cambodian system.  We need to work hard on this now, and we need to get some answer on this before the anniversary in May 2008.  So that we can announce it during the celebration.  From now on, up to that time, we are in the process of institutionalizing UPDF.  This is the new and important push.  Because the UPDF cannot rely on the foreign support alone.  The politics change in a given country is more complex than what the international donors can understand. The donors generally understand project-like interventions, which is good for the beginning stage, and for assisting the trouble-shooters.  But if we want to institutionalize positive change by people at large in a country  then the process is much more complex than what our donor friends can understand.  Development is not just for the sake of development, but for making change - structural change in the society by people.
• In Cambodia, you need an institution that is able to deal with the government agencies, but which also can open up a very big space for people.  People want development, but they don't have this space.  So there is a need to create some kind of mechanism.  And that is what we are going to work for that, until the UPDF anniversary next May.
• Propose land title in all the existing upgraded settlements - in Phnom Penh and in other provincial cities:  UPDF, through the MISEREOR fund, has now supported about 115 community upgrading projects in Phnom Penh.  And through the Selavip fund, another 45 communities have been upgraded in 10 provincial cities.  SO all together, you're talking about 200 upgraded communities at the time of anniversary next year.  It's not bad for Cambodia.  It's very concrete and very sizeable.  So what we have in mind is to propose that the national government grant security of tenure to all these communities.  We are not going to work with the Municipal level, but we will propose this directly to the Prime Minister:  we will show him the very beautiful pictures of these projects - along with the before and after shots. 
• We need some good documentation for this :  We may need some help preparing a good document on all these upgraded communities, getting the good photos of the improved conditions, etc.  Include plans of the communities, what have been the changes, etc.  The UPDF has some material already, but needs to be a little more professionally documented, into a book.  Then we submit the whole document to the Prime Minister (in Khmer and English), and ask him to consider granting the tenure.  I will help write up the guidelines for what information we need on each community, for our friends at UPDF to document, as they gather the information.  We will include both Phnom Penh and the provincial cities.
• Fund-raising for UPDF :  We were thinking it might be good to try raising funds from other sources for UPDF - not just from our European donors.  It may be possible to raise funds right inside Cambodia itself.  If we look into the structure of UPDF today, the grant from donors (which is very important as a seed fund, to get the process started) is now comprising about $320,000 of the UPDF fund.  And then we see that there are also contributions from the Prime Minister (which comes regularly, every month), from the seven private local markets, and from the municipality, and from the poor communities themselves.  This structure of contributions from so many different sectors shows us that Cambodian society has the potential to support such a fund and participate in this kind of intervention.  So we need to broaden the support within the country.  And we now have very concrete proof that the UPDF works, and that it's possible for the Cambodian people to do.  So it is important to try to launch some very active fund raising activities, from now until the anniversary.
• Fund-raising pamphlet :  To help this fund-raising process, we have to quickly make a little pamphlet (one in Khmer and one in English) which explains in a simple way how it is possible that poor people themselves are building their communities and their housing.  We will show pictures which show people's pride that has been instituted in many of these projects, and the life changes that the work has brought about.  Then ask for contributions.  Then the Municipality  and communities can work together in this fund raising process, can give this pamphlet to the private sector, embassies, shops, and help search for other sources of funds inside and outside of the country.  Even the present governor has contributed.  Have to start very soon. 
• Be sure it is not going to sell poverty in this pamphlet ("see how poor and miserable we are!") but we are going to sell pride and self sufficiency and capacity in poor communities!   We can say that there are lots of poor people who still don't have houses here, no opportunity to develop, because there is no source of funds which actually reach them.  They are ready, they are eager, they are energetic to do their own development, and they can do it.  And there are examples to show how poor people can do it very well. 
• It needs to go nation-wide, even into rural areas, where people have to start coming together to secure their land and develop their housing and their livelihoods.  The speculation is happening everywhere, and we have to do something serious with our Cambodian people.    
• Whatever the design - make it easy to understand, quick to get.  Nothing complicated or too much text and detail.  But it has to be trustworthy and credible, with dignity.  We are not beggars.