The government has asked companies to re-bid on the contract to renovate Phsar Thmei, Phsar Chas and Phsar Kandal, pushing back the project’s expected start date to 2005, a Ministry of Finance official said Wednesday.
Government officials said a few months ago the market renovations could begin around June, but the initial contract bids came in much too high, said Bankosal Ming, deputy director of the finance industry department in the Finance Ministry. “The ministry could not afford to pay,” he said. The government has a detailed renovation plan, but is waiting for the right price, he said.
Jean-Michel Debrat, deputy general manager for France’s development agency, which is funding most of the renovations, met with city hall officials this week to review plans for the markets. The government plans to privatize the three markets similarly to how the Water Supply Authority and Electricite du Cambodge, the electricity company, are set up, he said.
“The three markets would be run by a private company, with proper management, organized in a proper way,” said Debrat, here from Paris. “The autonomous market management will pay tax to the government.” Debrat made the trip to Phnom Penh to review agency projects to provide better assistance, he said, and strengthen cooperation with the government.
Those projects include supporting microfinance institutions, improving rubber plantations in Kompong Cham province, assisting irrigation in Sihanoukville and renovating the three markets.
Debrat said, the review is to ensure the development agency’s projects are running smoothly.
In Kompong Cham, the agency is working to increase the quality of rubber production so plantations can receive a certificate for complying with international standards, an important step for the industry’s competitiveness when the country joins the World Trade Organization. The agency is also seeking ways to provide land titles to farmers who own family rubber plantations, Debrat said.
