Searching for gold? Don’t look on the ground floor at the new O’Russei Market.
A disagreement over where gold can be sold in O’Russei was settled Monday, and all 134 gold vendors will be on the first floor of the market, which opened Aug 3.
That was the original deal between the municipality of Phnom Penh, overall managers of the property and the joint venture partners Grand Construction Co Ltd and Hei Seng Company, who built the facility.
The joint venture partners retain 101 stalls, many of them in prime locations on the ground floor. Some of those stalls began selling gold, sparking complaints from the first-floor gold vendors.
“I won’t allow any vendor to sell gold on the ground floor,” said Phnom Penh governor Chea Sophara, referring to the previous agreement reached on June 27.
O’Russei Market chief Keang Lak agreed. “I have already decided to tell the companies that we won’t allow gold shops on the ground floor,” he said. “It is more dangerous, because more robberies could happen. And I have to follow what the city told the vendors before the official opening.”
Some of the first-floor vendors had threatened to move downstairs and start selling their wares there if the dispute wasn’t settled
There are expected to be 134 gold vendors at O’Russei when all the merchants get moved in. The market has 60 gold vendors.
