Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway Construction to Begin in November

• 5 June 2018
• Local News
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Computer generated picture of Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway

Cambodia’s first-ever expressway, linking Phnom Penh to Preah Sihanouk province, is expected to start construction in November of this year, according to inter-ministerial officials who have been studying the project. Based on this timeline, the government is now actively developing a compensation plan for people who will need to be relocated to make way for the project.

“Based on our study project, we are working hard to begin construction of the road in November as expected,” H.E. Va Simsorya, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT), told Construction and Property Magazine. “We are working on the process of compensation that will be given to people affected by the project.”

The highway will be built on a build-operate-transfer basis by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, which reached a deal with the Cambodian government in January, according to a report in the Khmer Times.

Construction of the expressway will require an investment of nearly USD2 billion and is expected to take four years to complete. When finished, the four-lane expressway will be 190km long, shaving 50km off the current 240km length of National Road 4.

“To reduce the amount of compensation to be distributed, we have changed the course of the highway at certain points to avoid major villages and crowded areas while the length has been shortened,” H.E. Simsorya explained.

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