The National Committee on Coastal Area Management and Development (NCCAM) issued a press release on Sunday saying the new construction at Puy Kamphen beach in Preah Sihanouk province is legal and serves people’s interests. It denied allegations of illegal landfilling activities.

It says the construction of infrastructure – such as roads and sewage system – and the rocky beach transformation into sandy beach provides benefits for the public and is in line with the development of tourism and the national economy.

“It is the opposite of the claim that says there has been illegal landfilling at Puy Kamphen beach,” the NCCAM said.

Legal frameworks

Khmer Rise Party (KRP) president and member of the recently established Supreme Consultative Council Soksovann Vatana Sabung said the NCCMD must publish a legal framework on the development instead of issuing just press releases and development proposals.

Sabung asked in a Facebook post yesterday if the development took place within the preserved area and demanded that the NCCAM reveal the company that had obtained the right to develop the area.

His post also questioned the legal frameworks for the beach transformation.

He called on the NCCAM to reveal if the Puy Kamphen beach still belonged to the state or has been sold to a private entity, insisting the public has the right to know

Beaches throughout the Kingdom, he said, are classified as public property.

“If the committee does not reveal [the ownership status of the beach], according to the royal decree issued by the Supreme Consultative Council, the Khmer Rise Party will use the right to investigate documentation covering legal frameworks from all relevant institutions pertaining to the issue of coastland reclamation,” he said.