SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia : From the shady poolside cabanas of a newly opened beach club, only the buzzing of nearby passing sand-dredging ships disrupt the serenity of Cambodia ’s largest ever coastal development.
Sand has been poured at such a rapid pace that even Google Maps has yet to catch up with the reality that what has always been water, is now land. For now, aside from a few well-heeled thrill-seekers and the workers continuing to lay the city’s sandy foundations, it is mostly deserted and incomplete.There are growing fears among observers that the entire project could end up resembling a ghost city, undermined by shaky financial foundations, environmental concerns and growing scrutiny of the influential business group undertaking the ambitious construction.
For years, they have endured in the elements - unwilling to be forced away like most of their old community. “Living here, it's hard. I don't know what job I can do. At the old place, it's close to the sea, which makes it easy for me to go fishing so I can earn money,” he said.Instead, he now looks out to a barren, dry landscape, flies buzzing around the faces of young children and the ever-growing piles of trash.
CNA reached out to Canopy Sands for comment on the ways it communicates and deals with the community. “In a country where so many people live on land that still isn’t titled, people are vulnerable to land grabbing and forced evictions when powerful individuals or companies set their sights on a piece of land,” said Ms Naly Pilorge, outreach director for Phnom Penh-based human rights organisation, Licadho.
Some Cambodians have increasingly come to view the city - the region’s largest and about 30 minutes’ drive from Ream Bay - as a nexus between mafia and rampant illicit activities. Thousands of captive workers trapped in shadow industries were rescued from Sihanoukville compounds, while the General Department of Immigration reported that 447,000 Chinese nationals left the country in the aftermath.
“We have to solve it, we have to fix it, and now security has been established and the safety in place is even better than some other cities in the world. It’s just not 100 per cent yet,” he said.
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