Three resort owners on Koh Rong Sanloem are resisting a February eviction order by the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration to close business.

Tobias Ziegler, owner of the Moonlight Resort located on Saracen Bay, said yesterday that four owners have left, another four are in the process of leaving and the three still remain until matters are resolved.

“Since the provincial authority’s instruction, the three resort owners haven’t received any compensation or had any negotiations with the authority. We requested a fair solution, but as yet we have received nothing” said Ziegler.

“The three remaining resorts have been the backbone of family friendly island tourism in Cambodia for years. We opened in 2015 to attract more tourists to the island, by providing higher standards, better service and a family friendly environment,” Ziegler added.

Preah Sihanouk provincial deputy governor Long Dimanche, said yesterday that “The order to the owners to move is almost complete, however, there are few resort owners who have yet to move from the island.”

The provincial authority has solved the land dispute and most of the resort owners have agreed to move, but with some owners we have to negotiate and this will be completed soon, Dimanche added.

The three-resort owners are foreign investors from America, Belgium, Germany and Poland.

They wrote a letter recently to  Khmer Times, stating, “First of all, we would like to repeat that we all respect and honour the Cambodian government and Cambodian culture and we are only trying our utmost to stimulate tourism in Cambodia.”

“The resort owners are in possession of legal long term leases but we still don’t know who to turn to, how to get information from the authorities or even which private companies are in charge of the new project.”

“Rumours are spreading and we have some suspicions about the real people involved. But we are too frightened to talk about this, because we don’t want to jeopardise our chances to be treated fairly.”

“The landowners become instant millionaires by getting beach front land compensations but they did nothing to promote tourism in Cambodia or helping Cambodian people.”

“But we as major investors are promoting family eco-friendly tourism and helping Cambodian families by providing work. We are left in the dark while still paying the monthly rent because our legal contracts cannot be terminated. We as resort owners just demand to be treated fairly by the authorities.”

A resort owner on Saracen Bay, who declined to be identified, received a letter from Preah Sihanouk provincial administration dated September 29, 2021, stating that the government has contracted 1,124 hectares of Koh Rong Sanloem to Emario Shonan Marine Cooperation Ltd and 1,066 hectares to Koh Rong Sanloem Island Resort Co Ltd, for development.

• Tags: Koh Rong Sanloem, resorts