Vendors whose stalls line the streets around Phnom Penh’s Olympic Stadium have been told they must move to make way for the development of an office for the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, officials said yesterday.
Soam Sovann, Prampi Makara district governor, said an eviction notice had been posted on Oct 4, giving vendors 15 days to leave the area.
“This is the first step to build an office for the National Olympic Committee,” he said.
Mr Sovann said that between 150 and 170 businesses would be affected by the order. He said that vendors had either leased their stalls through a private company whose contract with the city had expired, or had set up shop without permission. Either way, they would not be owed any compensation, he said.
“There is no compensation…. They must move and they cannot complain,” he said.
The eviction notice covers all vendors whose stalls are on the east and north sides of the stadium, according to a copy of the notice. It states that the order was issued after a previous 30-day eviction notice expired without being enforced.
NOCC chairman and Tourism Minister Thong Khon announced plans for the new office in October 2008, but no construction ever took place.
Vath Chamroeun, NOCC secretary-general, said he did not know why the project had been delayed. He said the committee was eager to begin construction.
“This land will be used to build a headquarters to arrange all kinds of sporting events,” he said.
“We are appealing to get the land quickly…. We will start construction as long as the government organizes [the site] properly,” he added.
Vendors yesterday appealed for more time.
“We don’t oppose or demand anything…but we ask for two more years in order for us to find money and pay the bank,” said Sok Sambath, who runs two stalls at Sampov Meas market on the corner of Street 163 and Street 182.
“If I could stay here until the new national election, I would have time to save more money and buy a new stall,” said the owner of a mobile phone stall on Street 182, who did not wish to be named.
Mann Eng, who sells shoes out of a stall on Street 163, said she would not be able to start a new business without selling her old one.
“If I don’t have this to sell, my business will end. I don’t know where I will go if [authorities] don’t find a new place for me,” she said.
