This is just the latest example of a government some would call craven and venal selling off public lands, property, or buildings, usually to their developer friends. It will be interesting to see what replaces the fire headquarters which was near our Maryknoll office. I’m sure the new building will make a lot of money for someone–and probably that someone will be a friend or colleague of a government official, or maybe the official himself.
As for the people who will suffer…20 kilometers is 12 miles. In the Phnom Penh traffic now it takes 40 to 50 minutes to go 4 miles to the airport. The new fire headquarters is 12 miles away! How long will it take a fire truck to get to a fire in the city? Of course, on the positive side it will give the owners of the burning building more time to collect money because the fire department has a reputation for demanding money, once they arrive on the scene, before they start to fight the fire.