No News Yet on Chroy Changvar Bridge-svay Chrum Bridge Project

• 28 June 2019
• Local News
• 3507 Views

No updates have yet been provided on the feasibility study on the construction of a bridge connecting the Mekong River, linking Chroy Changvar to Svay Chrum commune, Lvea Em district, Kandal province, which has been undertaken by the Republic of South Korea, according to the minister of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT).

In 2018, the Cambodian government requested the Republic of Korea to help build the Cambodia-Korea Friendship, but to date, no detailed discussions have been held regarding the project.

In response to a question from Construction & Property Magazine asked during the construction signing ceremony of National Road No. 2 and 22 on 25 June, MPWT Minister H.E Sun Chanthol said “[This project] until now, there is no negotiation or leading to grant aid yet”.

Senior officials at the Korean Embassy in Cambodia, who asked not to be named, said recently that bridge project is a bit challenging related to some procedures.

According to the brief study of the project, the bridge will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, or more, so the Korean government needs to spend more time studying before deciding to release any budget, the official said.

H.E. Va Simsorya, spokesman for MPWT said in the past that the bridge would cross over the Mekong River, which is longer and higher than the bridge crossing over the Tonle Sap river.

On the other hand, according to the Korean official, the Korean government’s budget allocations for foreign development projects and especially for such large-scale project like this, will need to go through many procedures and could take up to years.

Regarding the budget package for this project, H.E Sun Chanthol said there could be some loans or some grants, but there is no picture of any agreement yet.

Phnom Penh currently has two bridges across the Tonle Sap River, namely the Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge (Chroy Changva II), which cost approximately US$27.5 million and the rehabilitated Cambodia-Japan Friendship Bridge which cost about $33 million.

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