More than 100 officials from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court participated in a good-luck ceremony yesterday marking the court’s move to a new location in the capital’s Prampi Makara district.

The court’s Krong Peali ceremony, a common celebration performed when new buildings are opened, included marching a statue of Neak Ta Dambang Dek to the court’s new home.

Neak Ta Dambang Dek represents justice and witnesses must take an oath in front of it before providing testimony.

Chiv Keng, director of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said yesterdayt the court would officially change locations next Tuesday.

“Construction of the new building, featuring luxury wood and modern materials, will be completely done by January 15,” he said.

Construction began on the new building in Veal Vong commune in 2009, he added. In the interim, the court moved to its current location, a building in Chamkarmon district’s Tuol Svay Prey II commune.  This proved to be expensive for the court, as it rented the facility from a private company.

The impending move would help decrease this expendit-ure, Chiv Keng said.

“Since we moved offices to work at a rented building in Tuol Svay Prey commune, we have spent a lot of money,” he said. “By moving to the new building, I hope we can reduce a lot of these expenditures,” he added.  

When asked to provide an exact figure of these expenses, or the cost of constructing the new building, Chiv Keng declined to comment.

The director also said the court’s interim location was inconvenient because it was far from the main road and was accessible only by narrow streets. Given the number of prisoners coming in and out of the court each day, this caused a considerable amount of congestion and traffic jams, and disturbed residents living in the area, he said.