A senior Adhoc official and a community in Kampot on Friday filed a forest-clearing complaint at the Court of Appeal in the capital after the provincial prosecutor last month said he would not take any action.

Pen Bunnar, senior Adhoc land investigator, yesterday said he and the Phnom Dam Mlou community filed the complaint. Kampot prosecutor Kha Dyna, who was handling this case, in December informed Bunnar he would not be taking action without offering a rationale. Dyna couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday.

“The community and I are very unhappy because the prosecutor took no action, and we sent more evidence to the court,” he said. “I hope the Appeal Court will give us justice.”

Bunnar, who first filed the case in February 2016, said he was also submitting a complaint today to the Ministry of Justice, along with evidence they have gathered, including photos.

Mam Phat, chief of the Phnom Dam Mlou community, said the 1,600-hectare parcel had been granted to more than 350 families by the government in 2008, but some 300 hecatres have been illegally cleared since 2012.