The Takeo provincial authorities on Tuesday halted the construction of a Chinese-owned footwear factory, which consisted of four buildings, in Bati district’s Komar Reachea commune for lack of a permit.
Provincial governor Ouch Phea told The Post on Wednesday that the authorities also confiscated construction equipment including a cement truck.
“This serves to enforce the laws and follows [the government’s] directives. We require the construction owner to obtain construction permits first,” he said.
Bati district governor Phuon Chhim said the authorities had warned the construction owners before the halt.
“Previously, we ordered them to delay their construction project a while and to apply for permits before construction could resume. We asked them two times, but they did not comply, prompting the authorities to take action by confiscating their construction equipment as a warning,” he said.
Chhim said representatives of the company that oversaw the construction project, Alpha Property Construction, have been ordered to appear for questioning on Thursday.
Chhim said he had also received an order from the provincial governor to halt other unauthorised construction projects in the district.
The ministries of Interior, and Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, have instructed all municipal and provincial governors to increase inspections of construction projects throughout the Kingdom.
The order came after the ministries found that some firms had carried out construction projects without prior permits.
The governors have also been ordered to take strict legal action against construction companies that operate without a licence from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and property owners who start construction without permits from competent authorities.
