Land Clearing Ops
Land clearing operations with Mr. Bobby Hardy in Beaumont, TX.

By: Cameron Burrell

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Land Clearing Ops - Video

Takeo Provincial Court yesterday handed out suspended sentences of three years in prison and 1 million riel ($250) fines to four Khmer Krom men charged with occupying and clearing state land and destroying a protected area in Kampong Krasaing commune.

According to the Minority Rights Organization (MIRO), the men have lived and farmed the land since 2004, and the verdict is aimed at expelling them while also deterring other poor villagers from cultivating state land.

Un Thanann, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said Vy Chan, 55; Vy May, 45; San Roum, 34; and Sao Moeun, 40, received guilty verdicts in front of more than 70 Khmer Krom families who had gathered at the court to hear the verdict.

I have been found guilty, but I am happy that I at least do not have to go to prison, Vy Chan said.

MIRO said the Khmer Krom community of 74 families has been asking for more land from the state since the 1990s to no avail.

In 2004, they occupied 215 hectares of state land, but in 2007, the authorities stated the area would be declared a protected wildlife sanctuary.

Villagers claim that the Fisheries Administration ordered the destruction of 91 houses in the area last year.

I admitted that I occupied land that is now a sanctuary, but what about the Fisheries Administration that has destroyed the villagers houses? Who will take responsibility for us? Chan said.

Sao Kosal, deputy director of the provincial fisheries department, denied that the Fisheries Administration had anything to do with the destroyed houses.

He added that the authorities had called for a stiffer penalty for the four men.

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Krom sentenced for illegal occupation

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All land-clearing and recreational burning in Clark County will be restricted starting July 15, the county Fire Marshal's Office announced Monday.

The partial ban comes as Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties jointly implement a policy to limit outdoor burning between July 15 through Sept. 30 each year. But the ban can begin sooner or end later if fire hazard conditions are extreme, officials said. Clark County's ban this year will remain in effect "until further notice," according to the fire marshal's office.

Clark County is rescinding all burning permits issued prior to the ban. Permits can be re-issued or extended when the ban is lifted, according to the county.

The restrictions do not apply on federally managed lands.

Recreational campfires on forest lands will be allowed only in fire pits at designated campgrounds, including local, county and state parks. Recreational fires on private land will be permitted, but only within certain limitations, according to the county.

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Clark County burn ban takes effect July 15

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Security and uniformed bodies under the Defence and Home ministries may be holding their training exercises in forests to curb encroachment and illegal land clearing activities.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel said he would discuss such a proposal with his counterparts in both the ministries Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

I believe that with the presence of the army, police or Rela, it can put off would-be trespassers in the forest, he told reporters after visiting the Kampung Raja-Blue Valley border yesterday.

Palanivel had visited the area to check on recent land clearing activity there.

Speaking on behalf of some 100 farm owners, Chong Chan Kong, 33, said land clearing along the Kampung Raja-Blue Valley range occurred last Friday.

The activities have started much earlier since September last year. It stopped for about two months and then resumed again. In March, the forest was set on fire, he said.

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New proposal to curb illegal land clearing

The Penang Municipality and the relevant authorities must investigate the on- going clearing of Bukit Kukus to avoid another 1997 landslide mishap.

UPDATED

GEORGE TOWN: DAPs Tanjung Bungah state representative Teh Yee Cheu called on the authorities to investigate the possible illegal hill land clearing in Paya Terubong, Air Itam.

During his visit to the area yesterday, Teh said he saw extensive land clearing being carried out atop Bukit Kukus, causing soil erosion to the nearby hilltop of Bukit Penara.

Bukit Kukus is located at least 1,200 feet above sea level.

Teh said he saw Bukit Kukus hilltop being flattened, trees being chopped down, cleared and thrown down the hill slope.

He has collected evidence, including photographs, to show that heavy earthwork vehicles, bulldozers and lorries without road tax and number plates that are being used to clear and transport soil from the hill out of the vicinity.

He cautioned of more soil erosion taking place during heavy rain.

Teh said that he had asked the local municipality, the MPPP, about a fortnight ago, about the matter and had tried to get more information but till today he has not received a response.

He urged the relevant authorities like MPPP, Departments of Environment, Drainage and Irrigation, Forestry and the Northeast District Land Office to probe into the matter soon as he believes the hill clearing was being done without proper approval.

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Another botak hill in the making?

MLA backs land rights

A Liberal MP has accused his Parliamentary colleagues of "perpetuating abominable and scandalous" State property rights laws.

Murray-Wellington MLA Murray Cowper introduced a private Members Bill in Parliament last Friday calling for an overhaul of the State's property rights laws, which he said did not adequately compensate land owners for reacquired land.

Mr Cowper said with the Bill, he hoped to entrench some common law provisions into the Land Administration Act, to ensure landowners were properly compensated for land reacquired by the State Government.

He said unlike Federal laws, the State Constitution did not have an "express provision" required for it to have the power to take property.

Mr Cowper also said under the current Act, it was up to individual Government departments to administer compensation, which did not necessarily take into account the value of the land to the land owner.

"In WA, the State's express powers to take land and give compensation are contained in parts 9 and 10 of the Land Administration Act of 1997, which generally operates in conjunction with specific legislation pertained to the relevant public purpose for example main roads, Water Corporation or a host of any other legislation," he said.

Mr Cowper said the origin of the land rights issue was a result of a "slow deterioration" of the rights of property owners.

"This was caused by a sweep of legislation that has washed across the political landscape and impacted detrimentally to a number of landowners," he said.

Mr Cowper also said about 20,000 WA landowners were affected by the legislation, with many of those living in the Murray-Wellington district.

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MLA backs land rights

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) -- The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry today directed all its agencies to work closer together in identifying the culprits behind the rampant illegal land clearing and occupation in Cameron Highlands, Pahang.

Its minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel said he had also directed the district officer and land officer in the area to give their cooperation to combat the illegal activities.

He said illegal land clearing and occupation in the highlands had increasingly become rampant, resulting in the affected areas facing risks like landslides and flash floods.

"This land encroachment is happening all the time and is a big problem in the highlands there. I don't know what's the source of the problem, which is difficult to control although there is monitoring done.

"I myself had surveyed the area by air and we don't know who have illegally cleared the land to turn it into agriculture farms," he said after opening the Kuil Magazine Fiesta, here, Sunday.

Rejecting the possibility of the illegal land clearing done by the Orang Asli, Palanivel said the ministry and its 12 agencies would together continuously monitor the situation to prevent the problem from worsening.

In another development, he said the haze situation in the country was improving with the Air Pollutant Index readings showing a drop in most areas.

Palanivel said he would be meeting his counterpart in Indonesia to find and discuss solutions to the haze problem that hit Malaysia each year due to the forest fires in Central Sumatra.

He said open burning activities in this country, meanwhile, were still under control and the ministry was indeed investigating and taking appropriate enforcement action on cases.

-- BERNAMA

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Ministry Identifying Culprits In Illegal Land Clearing In Cameron Highlands - Palanivel

Inhabitants of Idasho Community and nine other villages in Ibeju-Lekki council area of Lagos State have written to Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, to refute published claims that the state has returned 750 hectares of land and handed C of O's to residents of the troubled area.

The letter, which opposed the false impression of calm apparently to attract more investors, was attached with the published page on The Punch of Thursday 19th June, 2014.

Allegedly sponsored by the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Olushola Oworu, the story is believed to have been motivated by her private business interests in the disputed land area.

Mrs. Oworu and her husband, SaharaReporters learned, are key shareholders in the Lekki Free Zone Company, a private liability company that appears to have a mission of taking over every unused land within the Lekki zone and selling out to investors without recourse to owners.

At a recent meeting with residents and leaders of the community, Oworu was credited with convincing billionaire businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, to site his petro-chemical business in Ibeju-Lekki, where vast areas of land had been earmarked for him by the Lekki Free Zone Company without due consultations with the inhabitants.

Fashola had used the meeting to threaten the residents, after they were not enticed by the presentation of the businessman, Mr. Aliko Dangote to them in very contemptuous manner (Fashola's threat can be watched here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo4jCXuMCrk).

In their joint letter to the governor, the community also refuted claims by the state government that certificates of occupancy had been issued in respect of the purportedly returned lands. They maintained that no single person in the community had heard about such, let alone received the certificates, except for coming across it with amazement on the pages of newspaper.

Following the publication, some residents told our correspondent that more foreigners, mostly Chinese, are now moving into their community with demolition equipment.

A landlord in the area suggested that the publication in Punch Newspaper as sponsored by Mrs. Oworu might have motivated the strangers to move into their land.

One instance of farmland clearing by a team of Chinese men was reported last week, after which the men were challenged and their leader offered to pay for the destroyed plants on the farm. However, he did not offer to pay for the land itself, which he claimed was given to him by the Lekki Free Zone Company, with the endorsement of the Lagos State Government. After his offer to merely pay for the destroyed plantation was rejected, he has not returned to the land. Letter to the Governor Sahara Reporters Media Letter to the Governor Sahara Reporters Media

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Lagos Government Has Not Returned Our Land As Falsely Claimed, Say Ibeju-Lekki Villagers

Anderson Timber Harvesting
Anderson Timber has been a family owned business for over 20 years. We provide Central Massachusetts contractors, developers and land owners with professional, timely and competitively priced...

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A Texas man who was just hoping to graze cattle on the land he recently acquired was surprised to discover $2 million worth of marijuana plants growing in a back-woods area.

Authorities in Texas are investigating who is responsible for the secret marijuana growing operation recently found on a local ranchers property. A Chambers County, Texas, rancher called the county Sheriffs Office after checking out land that he recently leased from the Army Corps of Engineers and finding two individuals who took off running when they saw him on Tuesday.

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When deputies arrived at the clearing, they discovered 5,500 marijuana plants with a street value of about $2 million.

Primarily, the most impressive thing of it was that it was a pretty elaborate growing operation, Chambers County Sheriffs Office Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told ABC News today.

Deputy Daniel Houghton/Chambers County Sheriffs Office

PHOTO: A nursery area of marijuana plants on the land located in Chambers County, Texas.

Those responsible for the growing operation hand-cleared land about two acres deep in the woods, devised a watering system and made sure they had optimum sunlight, Hawthorne said.

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Rancher Finds $2M Marijuana Growing Operation on His Land