[VT] French colonial buildings demolished to make way for new government office
Rik Ponne
French colonial buildings demolished to make way for new government office
A set of three French colonial style buildings will be demolished to make room for a new five-storey office for the Lao Front for National Construction, an official in charge has said.
Office Head of the Lao Front for National Construction Mr Somsy Xayvangchang told Vientiane Times yesterday the three French buildings were constructed in 1923, while another three buildings on the same plot of land, which are not French in design, were built in the 1980s.
Work on the new building – located at the same site as the previous building site in Sisaket village in Chanthabouly district, Vientiane – is set to begin this month and is slated for completion in June 2017.
The government is funding the construction at a cost of 130 billion kip (more than US$16 million). The Lao Front for National Construction awarded the construction contract to a local
company called Sengvixay group. An agreement on the project was signed by the front and the company at a ceremony held in Vientiane last week.
It was signed by Vice President of the front Mr Tong Yerthor and the company presiden t Mr Thongla Sengvixay. Also attending were President of the front Mr Phandouangchit Vongsa and other officials from relevant sectors.
Under the agreement, Sengvixay group will pay for the construction itself before being repaid by government within a seven-year period, according to Mr Somsy.
“In 2013-14, the National Assembly approved a budget of five billion kip for the new building project. We will repay them whenever the National Assembly approves the budget,
rather than waiting for the project to be completed and then repaying the company,” he said.
Mr Somsy said the main reasons for demolishing all six two-storey buildings on the site were that they were deteriorating and were not large enough to house the increasing number of staff employed by the front.
“But we will also construct one replacement French-style building similar to the ones we have demolished,” he said. This building is separate to the main five-storey office building, he said.
The Lao Front for National Construction was originally called Neo Lao Issara (Lao Free Front) when it was established in 1950. Its name then changed to Neo Lao Hakxat (Lao Patriotic Front) in 1956 before changing again to its current name in 1979. Before the national liberation in 1975, the Lao front acted as a representative of the Lao People’s Revolutionary
Party in supervising the fight against foreign colonisation. After 1975 the front continued gathering the solidarity of Lao people to help with the two main strategic tasks of the Party: national defence and development.
Mr Somsy said the front was considered the mother of the Lao revolution, so it was crucial to construct a modern building from which it could carry out its activities.
He said the new five-storey building would feature 100 rooms, with the first floor allocated as parking space and the fifth floor allocated for meeting rooms.
By Time Reporters
(Latest Update JUne 4, 2014)
marion ravenscroft
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Rik Ponne
I don’t know but I would not be surprised.
Ruth Foster
Rurh
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2014 02:11:09 -0700
From: lao...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [LaoCHF] [VT] French colonial buildings demolished to make way for new government office
To: lao...@googlegroups.com
Ruth Foster
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