Tears and Ashes

There was a fire in my neighborhood, Tuol Kork, last Monday. It burned a small but densely populated area just a few blocks away, crammed with wooden homes. "While no one was hurt, 257 families, 181 students and 90 monks were left homeless as a result." (I've heard rumors of unreported fatalities.) Now the sidewalk near my house, where a few women and children used to spread out mats nightly, is packed with lines of people who have nowhere else to go.

The fire reminds me of a lot of things that are wrong with Cambodia. Fire safety codes? No such thing. Under US standards, the community would have been demolished decades ago. Fire trucks? 26 came but were slow to act, according to witnesses. Maybe the fire department's claim is valid that the roads were too narrow to move quickly. Maybe the victims' claim is valid that those who bribed the fire department still have homes standing. Who knows?

Cause of fire? "Electrical," officials claimed in yesterday's newspaper. But everyone knows that the government has wanted to confiscate that land for development of new office buildings and wider roads and such. It's been offering money to anyone who would sell their land and leave. Trouble is, a lot of the displaced people were squatters who didn't own the land anyway. They weren't eligible for reimbursement. Also, those who owned their plot didn't see the prices as fair. So most people think it's no coincidence that the fire happened in this location, or that construction on the land started the next day. Too bad they didn't think to warn the kids who were home alone, some locked into their houses until parents or relatives returned.

Now that the homes are gone, officials conveniently plan to move ahead with development plans while allowing a few families to return. The rest are being offered a small plot of land in a nearby province along with $8000, which residents say is too little. A number of them, who ran stores or food stands in the area, lost not only their homes but also their means of livelihood. Out in the province, jobs are much scarcer than in Phnom Penh, which has 13% unemployment. So it's looking pretty bleak for those affected. Please pray for them, and for Logos to know how to respond in a way that demonstrates God's love for them!