Vann Sophat, business and human rights project coordinator at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said the dispute highlights the need for the government to establish a system to safeguard customers’ money in private housing projects.

“The flow of money and resources held by companies is not properly monitored to determine how much capital they have invested in a development project and whether they have the capacity to complete it,” he said. “This is a problem because many companies tend to sell projects before they are built.”

“Without a proper, transparent and inclusive management system that takes human rights into account, such problems will continue to occur,” Sophat added.