Threat of development caused monks to protest
A building erected to store materials belonging to casino developer NagaCorp. has been removed from land surrounding the Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, according to media reports. The Asia Gambling Brief reported last week that the National Assembly’s commission on religious affairs visited the site “to ensure the shack had been removed.”
Buddhists became concerned about possible development of the land last year, when NagaCorp. expressed interest in building there. The threat drove hundreds of monks to protest in the streets. Seng Somony, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Cults and Religion, reassured the public, telling the Cambodia Post, “Obviously we have seen here that there is no sale or rental” of the land.
In 2014, the parent company of the NagaWorld casino confirmed it hoped to acquire land owned by the Buddhist Institute for a new hotel development. The company planned to move the office of the Buddhist Institute to another location.
Independent Monk Network leader But Buntenh told the Phnom Penh Post last year that the casino company’s “ambition … is to swallow the land step by step. And if there is no public protest or any reaction, they will grab all the land.”
