World Bank Approves $35 Million for Road Improvement in Three Provinces
The project aims to improve climate-resilient road access to markets, health services, and schools across Kratie, Kampong Cham, and Tboung Khmum provinces, the World Bank said in a statement. Photo: World Bank Cambodia/Facebook
- By Torn Chanritheara
- March 18, 2024 4:10 PM
PHNOM PENH – The World Bank has approved an additional $35 million for road improvement to withstand climate change in three provinces along the Mekong River as an ongoing road improvement project encountered rising costs due to high inflation and increasing prices in key inputs.
The credit was approved by the bank’s board of directors on Mar. 15 and withdrawn from the International Development Association (IDA) to support the Cambodia Road Connectivity Improvement Project (RCIP). The RCIP was approved in July 2020, with a financing of $100 million.
The project aims to improve climate-resilient road access to markets, health services, and schools across Kratie, Kampong Cham, and Tboung Khmum provinces, the World Bank said in a statement. The three provinces have a population of over 2 million people. In these provinces, 80% of the population lives in rural areas.
The World Bank said that the project’s cost has been higher due to high inflation and price increases of key inputs, including fuel and bitumen over the past three years.
Additional climate resilience interventions identified by detailed survey work and engineering designs for the project roads have further increased financing needs, it said.
“This additional financing will help pay for higher-than-anticipated project costs, mainly for road works contracts,” it said.
The bank said that the climate vulnerability of these road networks puts at risk access to critical services such as education and health care with negative effects on the residents that accumulate over time while poor road conditions raise transportation and logistics costs for critical agriculture products produced in the three provinces.
Maryam Salim, World Bank country manager for Cambodia, said that access to health and school facilities and moving goods to markets, in particular during the rainy season, has posed great challenges for Cambodian people in rural areas.
She said that the poor road conditions, disruptions caused by floods, and high transportation costs are major impediments to access to health care and emergency care for expectant mothers.
According to the bank, the road rehabilitation works have been underway across 130 kilometers of targeted national and provincial roads, and 142 kilometers out of 270 kilometers of targeted rural roads.
