Authorities demolished 27 constructions that were found to have posed a high risk to safety. They ordered another 636 sites to sign contracts agreeing to comply with legal procedures this year, a government report said on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, the Construction Quality Inspection Committees in Preah Sihanouk and Banteay Meanchey provinces and relevant institutions carried out a total of 1,156 inspections on construction sites during the year, the report said.
A working group to resolve disputes stemming from construction work garnered 24 complaints. Of these, it resolved one, referred three to its department in the capital, four to the Phnom Penh municipal administration and one to the General Department of Cadastre and Geography.
The group is also currently attempting to resolve 14 cases after having suspended one.
Disputes involving 330 construction sites were also mediated, which required 7,625 people – including owners and workers – to receive instruction and education, the report said.
It said the working group had inspected the construction sites to provide the owners with construction permits, repair permits and other relevant documents.
Ministry secretary of state Theng Chan Sangvar said his office would continue to conduct administrative checks, while the Cadastral Committee would visit sites to investigate complaints related to administrative work.
Their duties, Chan Sangvar said, will be to monitor law enforcement, adherence to relevant guidelines and follow administrative work procedures at the departments in the capital and the provinces.
Minister Chea Sophara said his office had called for the implementation of the Law on Construction and the introduction of guidelines as well as relevant technical standards to guarantee public safety.
Sophara, who is also the deputy prime minister, said the ministry had encouraged medium- and low-income households to reside in proper dwellings to ensure they lived in a safe and dignified manner.
“The working group has provided public services. [It] must cooperate with specialists in technical work so that they will become an indispensable resource when carrying out duties,” he said.
Building and Wood Workers Trade Union of Cambodia vice-president Sou Chhlonh said the ministry is mandated to ensure safe constructions but noted that various issues also needed to be addressed, such as construction quality, safety standards and wages for construction workers.
“We must consider two main issues affecting safety – sub-standard or bad quality construction that causes a danger to builders, and when a building is erected and found to endanger public safety,” he stressed.
