PHNOM PENH (Kyodo) -- The Asian Development Bank has provided $69 million for Cambodia to make major upgrades of provincial roads in some of the country's poorest provinces, according to an ADB statement Wednesday.
The Provincial Roads Improvement Project, financed by a $52 million loan from ADB Special Funds and a $17 million loan and grant from the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience, will be used to rehabilitate about 150 kilometers of unpaved provincial roads in Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Speu, Prey Veng and Svay Rieng provinces.
"Efficient transport is critical for economic growth. This initiative will provide safe, cost-effective and year-round access to markets, employment centers and social services for poor and remote communities," ADB Vice President Stephen P. Groff said during signing for the assistance.
Cambodia's rural economy is becoming increasingly dependent on the road network, but the steady growth in traffic, overloaded cargo vehicles and poor road maintenance and standards continue to take a severe toll on the 9,500 km of secondary national and provincial roads, only 11 percent of which is paved.
"As a result, economic opportunities are limited, and road safety has become a serious concern, with the highest accident rate in the region," the ADB statement noted.
The project will address road safety by providing community-based awareness programs for staff and agencies engaged in planning, managing and maintaining roads. It will also introduce axle-load control at strategic locations on provincial roads and enhance regional transport and trade activities in the Greater Mekong Subregion corridors.
Given floods and other severe weather-related events Cambodia has faced in recent years, the project "takes an innovative approach" to climate resilience by introducing ecosystem-based adaptation strategies, road design features and plans for disaster preparedness, mitigation and response to natural disasters.
By the end of 2011, ADB assistance to the Cambodian transport sector consisted of 11 projects amounting to $373.26 million.
The loan for the Provincial Road Improvement Project from its concessional Special Funds will have a 32-year term including an eight year grace period with a 1.0 percent annual interest charge that will rise to 1.5 percent for the balance of the term.
2 comments:
cambodia needs to be advised to build more national roads network connecting all the provincial centers and all the provinces in cambodia, really. the goal is to have all town and villages connected with roads to phnom penh, the capital city, you know.
QUALITY GOVERMENT? WHO RESPONSIBLE TO COLECTED BILL? AH HUN SEN'S CPP DICTATOR? BELIEVE ME OR NOT OVER 30YEARS UNDER MAFIA FAMILY'S CPP CREATED BY VIET YOU GOT TO PAY TO MASTERMIND COUNTRY LIKE VIET,...KHMER AKMATAK.
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