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Cambodia: Restaurants report calls to close despite no ban
Khmer Times has been made aware of both local and foreign business owners running establishments classified as “restaurants” are being requested to close by local authorities stating anti-COVID-19 requirements. This is despite no current official laws for closure. As of now only schools, museums, cinemas, clubs, KTVs, bars, concerts, religious gatherings and large social gatherings have been forced to close.
Khmer Times was informed by a US business owner at a popular eatery in Phnom Penh’s BKK1 district that local authorities have requested he close his restaurant on several occasions. Most recently, authorities entered his premises asking for his thumbprint on an official closure document. After refusing to sign he was advised that fines and potentially permanent cancellation of his licence could occur if he did not follow “official” directives.
The same story was corroborated by another local restaurant owner in the same district who explained to Khmer Times that authorities entered his establishment and requested him to close, but left after he showed them a video on his smartphone of Mr Hun Sen giving a speech where the Prime Minister stated that “factories, markets, cafés and restaurants will not be closed”.
The US business owner believed that because his restaurant sold alcoholic drinks, authorities were categorising his establishment as a bar. He explained: “We do sell alcoholic drinks and have a bar inbuilt at our premises, but what restaurant in Cambodia doesn’t sell alcohol? We have a full in-house kitchen and have a restaurant licence for registration purposes. I abide by all Cambodian laws and have never my broken my licence agreements.”
In response, Under-secretary of State and Commerce Ministry spokesman Seang said: “So far, there are no other notices or orders to close restaurants or eatery businesses. I am surprised that such a report has been made. But, in our opinion, if we observe that a restaurant or other eatery business provides services in a manner that induces close contact between humans, then perhaps this business has failed to abide by the rules of social distancing and personal hygiene that have been strictly introduced by the Ministry of Health, thus provoking the implementation of strict measures by local police.”
This year, the World Bank ranked Cambodia 144 out of 190 countries on the ease of doing business index in its annually published “Doing Business” report. The 2020 ranking is based on 10 points: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50710319/restaurants-report-calls-to-close-despite-no-ban/