Labor Ministry Building ‘Swapped’ in Private Deal Private Deal Offices Relocate Move With Investor

The Labor Ministry building in Phnom Penh has been “swapped” to a private investor, and hundreds of civil servants have vacated and mov­ed to a new compound on Rus­­s­ian Boulevard, though several gov­ernment officials on Tues­day de­clin­ed to provide details about the deal, who now owns the build­­ing or how much was paid for the prime prop­erty.

At the former Labor Ministry build­­­ing behind the Royal Palace on Street 184 on Tuesday, a security guard was seen guarding the now privately-owned property, newly surrounded by a green fence.

Minister of Labor Vong Sauth said Tuesday that the building had been “swapped,” adding that his civ­il servants are enjoying work­­ing at their new offices.

Mr Sauth claimed that the Fi­nance Ministry had made the swap in a transparent way, but he de­clin­ed to provide details.

“We did the swap…and I moved my directorate to the [new] Labor Min­­istry,” Mr Sauth said. “The reason is to have [staff] working at one Min­istry,” he said. “We could not do anything stupid-—it is a state property,” he said without elaborating.

Mr Sauth said that he didn’t know who now owned the spacious, colonial-era building on Street 184 or how much money was exchanged for the prime piece of real estate.

“I don’t need to know about the price, I just need a place to work,” he said before hanging up his phone.

Chuop Narith, a deputy director of the ministry’s employment and manpower department, said Tues­day that the building had been va­cated since January. Mr Narith said that he had no further details about the swap.

Finance Ministry Secretary of State Ouk Rabun, who is in charge of cataloging state property, declined to comment on the swap.

Hang Chuon Naron, secretary gen­eral for the ministry, could not be reached for comment.

SRP Secretary-General Ke So­vann­roth said Tuesday that the gov­ernment had not informed lawmakers of any swaps involving state properties.

“We are the representatives of the people; we don’t know how much revenue the government re­ceived from the sales,” Mrs So­vannroth said.

“When the National Assembly members don’t know, how could [citizens] know about it?”