Another 116 families living in the Angkor Archeological Park have participated in a draw for new homes in Run Ta Ek village, in Banteay Srei district’s Run Ta Ek commune, as the government takes action to protect the area around the UNESCO listed heritage site.

“As of 9am, on August 27, 116 families have participated in the lucky draw to relocate to Runta Ek village,” said Chea Sophara, Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction in a social media post.

These families are in addition to the 727 from two villages near the Angkor Wat Temple which had drawn new plots on August 25. As of August 27, more than 900 families had drawn new plots.

The minister said that an engineering team had constructed 1,330m of road in the new village. A total of 3,207ha of land has been cleared to prepare for the coming families.

Minister of Environment Say Samal inspected the new village on August 6 and met with the officials in charge of preparing the site. He said his ministry has been tasked with preparing land and planting fruit trees for the new residents, in collaboration with the Siem Reap provincial administration and Apsara National Authority.