Finance Minister Keat Chhon isn’t done answering questions about the contract to remake Chaktomuk Theater into a convention center, according to an opposition parliamentarian who alleges the government has unfairly awarded the renovation contract.
Sam Rainsy Party member Son Chhay last month asked Keat Chhon to justify the $3.5 million price tag for the project, claiming three other firms submitted bids under $2 million.
Son Chhay said Tuesday he has received no answers, either verbal or written, so he plans to confront Keat Chhon again today at the National Assembly.
“We will ask the National Assembly President to form an independent committee to investigate whether the Minister of Finance was involved in a cash bribe. And we will ask an expert to re-study the price again,” he said.
But in a letter to National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh dated June 22—only days after Son Chhay’s first inquiries were made—Keat Chhon did respond to the lawmaker’s concerns.
The letter, which appeared as an advertisement in the Khmer-language press, reiterated that because an Asia-Pacific Assembly meeting of 44 nations is scheduled to be held in Chaktomuk in November, there was an urgency to get the job finished.
The letter also said the Ministry of Culture formed a 13-member committee to study the project and assess the costs. He said the committee talked to four companies before selecting Seng Enterprise, Inc, a 40-year-old company, because the firm had plenty of construction equipment, engineering expertise, and a good renovations record.
Keat Chhon said the committee decided the project should cost $3,711,765, taking into account the theater was over 40 years old and in very poor condition. He said there had not been a previous renovation.
The committee ultimately lowered the price tag to $3,506, 441. In April, the Ministry of Culture was told Seng Enterprise would do the work.
Seng Enterprises has 10 percent of its contract ($350,644) in an account at the National Bank of Cambodia. The renovation project is about 35 percent completed.
“I will ask him to answer me again,” Son Chhay said. “His [previous] answers are not clear to me. Chaktomuk was renovated once before at a cost of $1 million to the government.”
