News Khmer

Posted on 18 October 2009.

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 634

(POsted by CAAI News Media)

“Phnom Penh: People are always excited when they travel along roads with new buildings and construction sites, but senior staff of insurance companies in Cambodia claimed that by now, there is still no insurance for building durability in Cambodia.

“In Phnom Penh, many high rise buildings are being constructed nowadays, especially along the Monivong Boulevard. Representatives of insurance companies in Cambodia said that Cambodia has no law requiring high rise building to pay for building durability insurance.

“A manager of an insurance company who asked not to be named said that so far, in Cambodia there is no law requiring to contract building durability insurance for high rise buildings. That is why construction quality is still a challenging issue, and clients have just to trust.

“He added, ‘So far, Cambodian law requires only to have third party liability insurance during the period of the construction, but there is still a gap to achieve insurance for building durability.’

“He went on to say that in other countries, almost all construction activity includes to contract durability insurance for buildings. Therefore, the quality of construction in those countries is guaranteed, and the durability of buildings can be predicted, while in Cambodia, there is no such thing.

“The director of the Caminco Insurance company, Mr. Duong Vibol, said on 15 October 2009 that also his insurance company offers insurance services related to the construction of buildings, but the agents of the company have not been able to attract clients constructing big and high rise buildings.

“He said, ‘I do not know what the requirements of the laws are, but we have assigned agents to talk to them, but so far, there is no response – or they said that they had already bought insurance from abroad.’

“Also the director of the Forte Insurance company, Mr. Yak Chamroenrith, said on the same day that most high rise buildings being constructed along the Monivong Boulevard belong to clients of his company, but they contracted only third party liability insurance, but there is no insurance yet for the durability of the buildings. He said, ‘In modern countries, there is such a service, but in Cambodia, there is none.’

“According to Mr. Chamroenrith, the third party liability insurance is a service that guarantees payments only for accidents that might happen during the construction, but it does not guarantee the quality or the durability of buildings.’

“He continued to say that for the insurance of building durability, many studies have to be made and conditions have to be fulfilled.

“While local insurance companies claimed that high rise buildings being constructed do not have insurance for the durability of the building, they said that those big constructions companies might have insurance service contracts with companies abroad.

“Mr. Chamroenrith added that in general, the construction of such high rise building is not conducted without proper thinking about the quality. Most conditions have to be met to have insurance, even during the stage of the construction. But what he is concerned about is the quality of buildings constructed by private developers.

“Though those high rise buildings may already have insurance, the above mentioned anonymous person suggested that the construction companies should pay for insurance from local companies.

“He added, ‘The construction is conducted in Cambodia, while the insurance is bought from foreign countries. This can be risky.’

“He went on to say that to promote the local insurance sector, all construction companies should contract such services from local insurance companies.”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5023, 17.10.2009

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