Asia Times: Landmine removal process backfires on farmers



	June 15, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Landmine removal process backfires on farmers
By Debra Boyce

PHNOM PENH - Chum Phean is one of hundreds of formerrefugees who have staked their futures in the landmine-ridden villageof Reaksmei Suengha, in the heart of Cambodia's most fertileagricultural area.

While he fears being injured by a mine, his most pressing concernis that when the Cambodia Mine Action Center (CMAC) has completedde-mining the village and its surrounding farmland, his allotted twohectares will be snatched away. ''I'm afraid the military will take it,'' he said quietly,glancing over at a group of soldiers playing volleyball nearby.''They are very powerful. If they want it, they will take it."

His fears appear well-founded. Amid allegations of financialimpropriety and mismanagement swirling around CMAC in recentweeks, the agency has acknowledged that the beneficiaries of its''humanitarian'' de-mining are not always poor Cambodians.

Much of the land is now entangled in ownership disputes, ofteninvolving poor farmers and richer, more powerful people. The situation, say land rights analysts, is partly the fault of CMAC, but also lies in Cambodia's chaotic land titling system, which has left up to 90 percent of rural residents without land titles.

In late May, CMAC announced steps that it hopes will stop theland grabs but analysts argue the measures will only work if thereis political will. ''This is a problem driven by greed, driven by poverty,'' saysChea Vannath, whose Center for Social Development has held twopublic forums in the past six months on land use. ''To be solvedthere needs to be political will at the highest level, a long termcommitment and an institutionalized process."

Since 1993, CMAC, a quasi-governmental organization that getsabout $20 million in financial and technical aidannually from foreign donors, has taken a leading role in tacklingthe land mine problem in Cambodia. The country has 4 to 6 millionmines that remain buried after decades of civil war.

But in recent weeks, Cambodia's largest demining agency has beenwracked with allegations of financial and operationalmismanagement. There have been disclosures that not only does the agency notknow how exactly much land it has demined, but that ownership oflarge portions of land has been turned over to private commercialinterests.

CMAC officials have estimated that as much as 75 percent of theland it demined in 1998 in Battambang province, where Chum Pheanlives, is the focus of a dispute.

For instance, a chili farm in the district where Chum Pheanlives was demined by CMAC in 1996. But rather than remaining inthe hands of poor farmers, it wound up in the hands of a militaryofficer and was turned into a plantation.

In the case of the chili farm, the land was given to poorfarmers who turned around and sold it, says CMAC Director GeneralSam Sotha. In other cases, he explains, the land is taken bymilitary officials or rich businessmen.

While similar disputes occur in other countries where large-scaledemining is going on, one analyst says the extent of problem withCMAC land is a fault of the agency's size and institutionalstructure. ''It's a complex issue,'' the analyst said, speaking oncondition of anonymity. ''But there are fundamental flaws [inCMAC] at certain levels that allow abuses to take place."

Some of the flaws are obvious. Previously, CMAC had no planningor socio-economic departments to determine in every case thebeneficiaries before demining started, or track what happened tothem, acknowledges Sam Sotha. Adding to the confusion is Cambodia's muddled land title system. Decades of war forced people to flee their land, only to bereplaced by new families of migrants, leaving several families whofeel they have a legitimate claim. A new land law is being drafted to replace the 1992 one that experts find inadequate.

In the end, CMAC has no control over who gets the land, notesSam Sotha. Once the land is cleared, it is turned over to theprovincial government, which usually lets powerful commune anddistrict chiefs decide who should have it.

Foreign donors agree that CMAC must clear mines for thelandless, but say it is up to the government to make sure it goesto the poor. ''Land use is the most important issue [of the controversies]but it is a policy issue for the royal government,'' says CanadianAmbassador Gordon Longmuir, whose country has given more than $2million to CMAC and is about to fund the country's mostdetailed landmine survey to date. ''CMAC is not responsible forpolicing who [the land] goes to."

Other agencies in Cambodia say they avoid the problem by takinga far more active effort in determining the end use of land beforethey clear it. Several require written or verbal agreements on theend use of the land before demining begins.

Halo Trust, a British demining organization that has been operating inCambodia since 1991, first talks with villagers and localofficials and makes sure everyone agrees on how the land will beused, says program manager Paul Heslop.

''If it looks like the land is not going to be used for thepurposes initially agreed up, we will pack up and leave,'' hesaid. ''We have a big stick and are not afraid to use it.'' Of the 5 million square meters of land his organization has cleared, less than 1 percent has been grabbed by the military orspeculators, he estimates.

Heslop acknowledges that Halo Trust clears smaller areas of landthan CMAC, but says community involvement and proper planningprior to demining can ensure disputes and land grabbing areavoided later.

In an attempt to stop the disputes, CMAC last month handed nearly300 hectares of land for more than 600 families in Battambangprovince to a committee of provincial and district officials. Within CMAC, a new planning department set up in January is alsoto check on who is living on demined land, says Sam Sotha.

But ''you don't just hold a ceremony and the problem disappears,'' says Chea Vannath. ''If many levels are notinvolved, including the top, it will never end. It will remain abattle between the rich and poor."

(Inter Press Service)

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