NagaCorp, Cambodia’s largest casino operator, is hoping to avoid a confrontation with Buddhist monks over an expansion of its Phnom Penh monopoly NagaWorld casino that is encroaching on religious ground.
The site, slated for a non-gaming hotel as part of the property’s “Naga3” expansion, is currently occupied by the city’s Buddhist Institute, which a report in the Phnom Penh Post says NagaCorp wants to relocate. Construction of the company’s US$370 million second-phase “Naga2” expansion now encircles the institute, fueling rumors that its land is slowly being sold off to accommodate the operator, the Post says.
COO Mark Brown confirmed the company was in talks with the Cambodian government over the land. Brown told the Post in an e-mail, “We hope we can convince the government to grant the rights of usage of the land which, unfortunately, has not been obtained yet.”
The leader of the Independent Monk Network But Buntenh, who led protests against NagaCorp’s plans in May, told the newspaper he had heard about the Naga3 project from staffers at the institute. “If the government approves it, we will have a big protest against the land of the Buddhist Institute being sold to the gambling company,” he said.
