Phnom Penh City Hall yesterday finished handing out compensation packages to 56 evicted Borei Keila families, and said it would acquiesce to demands by another group to receive cash in addition to houses at the Andong village resettlement site.

The 56 families were initially slated to receive either $3,000 or $5,000, but Tuesday’s handover ceremony was disrupted by protesters. Mean Chanyada, administrative director at city hall and director of the committee tasked with resolving the years-long Borei Keila eviction dispute, said the body will now arrange a lucky draw in order to sort out the task of assigning flats to another 35 evicted families determined to remain in Borei Keila.

Meanwhile, Sia Phearum, director of NGO Housing Rights Task Force and a member of the committee, said a demand by another 45 families that they be given $2,000 and moving expenses in addition to a home in Andong had been approved by Municipal Governor Pa Socheatvong yesterday.

According to Phearum, negotiations will continue with another 18 families still holding out over a range of demands.