PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has decided to cancel all land exchange deals and development plans of the Phnom Tamao forest area, ordering the company clearing the land to now replant the trees that have been cut down.

The Prime Minister wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday, 7 August, "Save the land and forest around Phnom Tamao Zoological Park, the land is to be protected and conserved by the Ministry of Agriculture."

He said that this decision was made due to there being many requests from the people to halt the clearing of the Phnom Tamao area.

Aerial photos show that several machines of a private company have already cleared about 130 hectares of forest area around Phnom Tamao Zoological Park over just a few days. According to the Southeast Asia Globe, three private companies are known to be involved in the acquisition of about 1,500 hectares of forest land in Phnom Tamao, including Bati Tourism & Development, TP Moral Group and China Poipet Satellite City.

According to the same source, Leng Phatra, also known as Leng Navatra, is the director of China Poipet Sea City Real Estate, as well as Galaxy Navatra Group and Galaxy Navatra Investment. TP Moral Group is led by Khun Ty, Khun Seng Pheng and Khun Sear. Khun Sear is known to own a lot of real estate in Cambodia.

On Sunday, Tycoon Leng Navatra wrote on his Facebook page that he supported the cancellation of all Phnom Tamao land exchange deals and development plans, and called on people to replant trees in the area. However, some have responded to this request by saying “whoever clears it, go and plant,” stating that it should really be the people who were responsible for clearing the land in the first place to go and replant trees in the area once more.