Cambodia will not hesitate to build Funan Techo Canal to boost the national development, said President of the Cambodian Senate Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Cambodian Oknha Association’s first conference held here at the Garden City Hotel this evening, Samdech Techo Hun Sen said that Cambodia will definitely construct the Funan Techo canal to provide great benefits for the nation and the people,even though some milieus oppose the project.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen, who is also Honorary President of the Cambodian Oknha Association stated that if Cambodia could not raise money to build this canal from any foreign investors, Cambodia conduct fund raising from local tycoons.
At the same time, Samdech Techo Hun Sen also criticised the opposition groups, especially Mr. Sam Rainsy, who opposed this project without thinking about the national interest.
In response to some Vietnamese researchers who are against the Funan Techo canal project saying that they would
lose 70% of the water due to the project, Samdech Techo Hun Sen asked where that 70% of water goes, adding that if the water is lost, Cambodia will be the first to be affected.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen underlined that for more than 40 years, Samdech has never made a wrong decision and Cambodia is not foolish to put Chinese troops on its territory.
Funan Techo Canal project is the first historic project in Cambodia’s waterway transport sector to connect the Mekong River system and the sea.
According to the project’s feasibility study, the US$1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal project, which will be broken ground for construction at the end of 2024, is 180 kilometres long and 100 metres wide upstream and 80 metres downstream with two navigation lanes. The construction would take around four years to complete and cost some US$1.7 billion.
The canal will link Prek Takeo of Mekong River to the sea in Kep province crossing four provinces: Kandal, Takeo, Kampot and Kep with a total of 1.6 million people living on either
side of the waterway.
Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse