Soldiers and police officials were granted 500 houses on Tuesday by the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and Stung Treng authorities on land allocated for social land concessions.

The houses on land in Stung Treng province’s Sre Sambor and Prek Meas communes are for members of security forces based nearby, provincial hall spokesperson Men Kong said.

Kong told The Post on Tuesday that 500 police and army families were given the houses and land from the government through the Ministry of Land Management and Stung Treng provincial authorities as an incentive.

He said the houses were selected for the families of soldiers and police between boundary poles 37 and 38 through a lottery.

Plots of 50m by 100m

Each family, he said, was granted a 50m by 100m house on 3ha. The plots were given by Prak Angkeara, the deputy director-general of housing at the Ministry of Land Management, and Chea Thavarith, Stung Treng provincial deputy governor.

“The housing project was started early last year, and we gave them to the families this year. We granted houses to the families of soldiers."

“Houses have also been given to retired and active officers after reviewing their family’s situation,” Kong said.

Hou Sam Ol, Stung Treng provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, told The Post that he supported the initiative.

“We should reward the soldiers. They prevent people from violating the law and moving boundary poles. I strongly support this because it provides an incentive for qualified officers who are defending our territory,” Sam Ol said.

He said the authorities and relevant officials had closely monitored the process of allocating houses to ensure transparency as it had not always been done fairly.

The granting of houses in similar initiatives had in the past been affected by corruption in which the best locations had to be paid for, he said.

Ministry of Land Management spokesman Seng Lot could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.