Nearly 60 families in Siem Reap province are demanding more compensation from the body that manages Angkor Wat for a canal it is constructing through their rice fields.

Villagers representing 58 families in Siem Reap’s Puok district thumbprinted a petition calling for the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (Apsara) to pay villagers whose land will be affected by the canal project $1.50 per square metre. They say Apsara has already agreed to pay $0.20 per square metre.

“The canal is on our rice fields and some parts of our houses,” Tem Ponlok, a representative said of the waterway, meant to reduce flooding near temples. “We do not want to demand more money, but a lot of the rice from our fields will be affected.”

Apsara spokesman Chau Sun Kerya told the Post the company will pay the agreed $0.20 but wasn’t obliged to pay villagers anything because the property they live on belongs to the state.