The government has given out more than one million hectares of land to disabled and retired soldiers, families of deceased soldiers and other impoverished people over the last five years.

Theng Chan Sangvar, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Land Management, said yesterday that about 400,000 families have benefitted from the government’s land concession scheme.

“We also built houses for some of the very poor families. The government is doing this to improve the well-being of impoverished people and to soldiers and their families for their dedication. Our primary aim is to lower the poverty rate.”

“Most of the land was given out to families who did not have a roof over their heads or could not make ends meet,” he said yesterday.

In 2020, 4,209 families received 6,660 hectares of land, and 533 houses were constructed.

“In 2021, we struggled to assemble teams to build houses because of Covid-19 and only 36 houses were built but 1,757 families received land,” he said.

“In total, during the past five years, the government has given 481,157 families the 1,356,396 hectares of land. We are also constructing 7,805 homes, of which 7,382 have already been completed and given out,” he said.

The government, he said, hoped that the people granted social land concessions will make good use of the land to generate an income to support their families.

“The government wants to see people using their land for farming and making money from it so that their kids can go to school and live prosperous lives,” Sangvar said.

Sangvar said the government was working with international organisations like the World Bank to achieve the objectives.

Oddar Meanchey deputy Governor Dy Rado said officials make efforts to identify disabled soldiers and the families of dead soldiers who are struggling in their lives.

“We will ensure that no one who is deserving is left behind in this government objective,” he said.

• Tags: land distribution