Habitat For Humanity Helps Families With Secure Land Tenure In Cambodia

Informal settlers in Battambang will be receiving land certificates; infrastructure development is also taking place

PHNOM PENH, August 30, 2012: More Cambodian families are a step closer to secure land tenure in a World Bank-funded project by Habitat for Humanity Cambodia and its partners in northwestern Battambang province.

Has Phina’s new house in Battambang will be a gateway to better health and improved economic opportunities. Photo: HFH Cambodia.

Cambodian families will be receiving land certificates for plots of land granted under the government’s social land concession scheme. Other developments in the pipeline include the provision of infrastructure such as streets, drainage systems, community centers and water and electricity. The Battambang project is supported by Japan Social Development Fund through the World Bank.

For informal settlers like Has Phina and his family, HFH Cambodia’s project in Battambang province not only secures land tenure but a host of other benefits. He is among 50 families who are building new houses with HFH Cambodia.

Some 300 land plots have been allocated and land demarcation and soil filling work is ongoing.

“I am now able to really build a decent house for my family on my own private and legal land plot provided by the government. Through this project, our community was also provided with good infrastructure. We feel safer from natural disasters, especially floods, and we can easily access work, housing kits form saving groups. We were also taught about land rights, management and others.”