Wednesday, 20 June 2012
By Rann Reuy
Phnom Penh Post
The Ha Tien Vegas Entertainment Resort
at the Vietnamese border in Kampot province’s Kampong Trach district
has let 500 of its 750 staff go, and is closing 130 hotel rooms and its
big restaurant, according to an announcement yesterday.
The
announcement yesterday said that since it opened in 2010, the recreation
centre had never been successful, so it had been decided to reduce its
large-scale activity first, instead of stopping business completely.
Ha
Tien Vegas spokesman Holay Pao said delays by both Cambodia and Vietnam
in building a road to the complex was an important factor that had
discouraged guests from going there.
“Most customers don’t want
to struggle with the road,” Holay Pao said. “The hope of the owner of Ha
Tien Vegas is that the centre can continue to survive for the present
and full operations will begin some time in the future.”
The nine-storey centre was opened at the end of 2010 at a cost of $100 million.
A
27-year-old worker, who asked not to be named and is working as an
electrician at the centre, said staff numbers were being reduced from
the top down in a restructure, as some staff were being paid as much as
$3,000 a month.
He said the staff cuts had begun on June 15, but he was not among the workers being let go.
“I
am also worried, but electricians don’t face so much trouble because
they need electricians to protect the buildings,” he said.
Chhit
Bunrith, an assistant service manger for the centre, said visitors did
not seem to go there during the rainy season and there were currently
fewer than 100 customers a day.
He said that the hotel has a total of 160 rooms but the company is to retire 130 rooms.
Kampot
provincial governor Koy Khunhour said he knew of the matter but had not
enquired about the casino in detail because it was a private business
operation.
“It is normal that when businesses make profits, they
expand their business, and when their business is lost, they don’t hold
on,” Koy Khunhour said.
Officials of the Ministry of Economy and Finance could be contacted for comment yesterday.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rann Reuy at reuy.rann@phnompenhpost.com
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