Work along the Future Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway Is ahead of Schedule
Construction of the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway is going at an accelerated pace. Photo: Ministry of Public Works and Transport Facebook page.
- Phoung Vantha
- May 23, 2020 6:49 AM
Issues of people displaced due to the new road are close to resolved, the government says
PHNOM PEN—The Ministry of Public Works and Transport has announced that more than 21 percent of the work on the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway has been completed.
Moreover, nearly 89 percent of the issues regarding people affected by the construction of the 4-lane highway has been resolved, the ministry said in a post on its Facebook page on May 19.
The project, whose groundbreaking ceremony took place on March 20, is expected to take 48 months and end in late 2022. With its cost estimated at $2 billion, it is public-private partnership funded by China Road and Bridge Corp. and the governments of Cambodia and China.
Being developed as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the expressway is considered one of the key projects to strengthen the existing ties between China and Cambodia, according to Road Traffic Technology website.
The feasibility study for the development of the 190-kilometer expressway was conducted by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) from 2006 to 2018, the website said.
Asked about details of the agreements made with people displaced to make way for the highway, Vasim Sorya, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said on May 19 that this was handled at inter-ministerial level by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Attempts to contact Eng Touch, spokesman for the Ministry of Economy and Finance, were unsuccessful as of May 22.
