French Scholar ‘Shocked’ Over Damage to Riverside Home

1 August 2011
The Cambodia Daily
Economy and commerce
Cambodia / Ecole francaise dÉxtreme-Orient / France / Grand Officer of the Royal Order of Cambodia / Khmer Buddhist texts / Khmeroyal Hotel / King Norodom Sihanmoni / Olivier de Bernon / Phnom Penh / Sisowath Quay / Vattanac Properties Ltd / Xavier dÁbaze

Leaning over the railing on the roof of the Khmeroyal Hotel along Phnom Penh’s Sisowath Quay, 54-year-old scholar and long-time Cambodian resident Oliver de Bernon peered across at his crumbing riverfront apartment yesterday. Residents of the block between streets 178 and 184 on Sisowath Quay complained to Daun Penh district in June that excavation on a Vattanac Properties project, said to be either a hotel or a bank, had caused extensive damaged to their homes and businesses. At a scheduled meeting of government officials, Vattanac respresentatives and building owners slated for today, Mr de Bernon said he would also suggest that an apparatus be placed around the perimeter of the building to keep it from falling.