Cars were parked on public roadsides at Daun Penh district last month. Hean Rangsey
District authorities in Phnom Penh are giving people who have parked motorcycles and cars on public roadsides to advertise them for sale two months to relocate them following orders from Phnom Penh municipal governor Khuong Sreng.
Tuol Kork district governor Ek Khun Doeun told The Post on July 1 that he had relayed the instructions to the owners.
“We went down to instruct and notify them. We gave them two months to look for a new location as advised by the Phnom Penh municipal governor,” he said.
Khun Doeun added that when the deadline comes the owners must to follow it or the district authorities will resort to further measures and have all the remaining vehicles towed and impounded.
Kambol district governor Khim Sunsoda said that in his territory there are no locations with people selling cars or motorcycles, but his officials would continue to maintain public order and ban people from selling goods or doing business on public pavements.
“As always, we have to maintain public order. Vendors have to dispose of rubbish properly. We will do as we normally do on National Roads 3 and 4 and enforce the same rules for vehicle owners as other districts,” he said.
On June 29 Sreng ordered that all districts – and especially the five districts in the middle of Phnom Penh – maintain public order on road pavements and no longer allow goods or vehicle sales on roadsides and pavements.
“It is the time for us to organise public order in Phnom Penh, especially the five districts in the middle of the capital better,” he said.
Sreng said that Phnom Penh Municipal Hall had in the past overlooked the activities of some business people who had been engaged in these practices for a number of years in some areas, but now everyone would be expected to cooperate with district authorities to help increase public order and they would no longer be allowed to continue using the pavements to do business in this manner.
San Chey, executive director of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability, said this issue was not new for the Phnom Penh municipal authorities and that it had to be attended to consistently over time – like pulling weeds from a garden. You can pull all of them out, but if you don’t keep pulling them each week you will find it quickly becomes overgrown once again.
“Those who suffer the most from this road pavement encroachment are passengers and pedestrians and it is detrimental to public order and the city’s beauty. When there are any proper solutions implemented then the social benefits of living in an orderly and neat environment are apparent and draw admiration from the public,” he said.
