Royal Group told

The developers are Evergreen Success and Asia Development Co, which were given the greenlight in 2008 to develop 1,480 hectares for a tourism-related project, and Royal Group Co, which was granted 1,408 hectares in 2009 for an eco-tourism venture. “The ministry will closely monitor their progress and will re-evaluate them again after six months,” said Environment Minister Say Sam Al at a press conference yesterday. Neither company has completed all the application procedures required by law or submitted a master plan, said Sao Sopheap, ministry of environment spokesman. “It is a requirement before they can start their development activities on the site,” Sopheap said. “In six months’ time, we will evaluate them again. If they show no progress at all, then the government will decide what to do next.” Created in 1993, Ream National Park is made up of 21,000 hectares of coastal area in Preah Sihanouk province. But in recent years, several projects have carved away land for private development despite the park’s protected status. Am Sam Ath, senior investigator with rights group Licadho, said that while development plans usually aim to improve the affected communities’ living standards, most of the time the result is the opposite.