Work starts on new Cambodia bridge

Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011

PHNOM PENH (Kyodo) Construction on a third bridge in Cambodia to be built with official development assistance began Saturday on a route crossing the Mekong River to Vietnam.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, said the planned 2,240-meter bridge will be the longest and "most beautiful" in the country.

The structure, 37.5 meters above the river at its highest point, will provide a direct transportation link to Vietnam.

The new bridge is at the Neak Loeung River Crossing, 56 km southeast of Phnom Penh. Construction is expected to end in February 2015.

Cambodia builds bridge to link ASEAN highway

February 13, 2011

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - The construction of Neak Loeung Bridge, a part of ASEAN's highway, will play a vital role in boosting the development of Cambodian and regional economy, said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday during a ground breaking ceremony for the bridge construction.

The Neak Loeung Bridge across the Mekong River along the National Road No. 1 will link the western part of Kandal province and the eastern part of Prey Veng province to Vietnam.

The bridge will be the biggest and longest one in Cambodia. It will be 13.5 meters wide and 2,200 meters long, and as high as 37 meters from the water surface, according to the master-plan.

The Neak Loeung Bridge, being constructed by contractor Sumitomo Mitsu Construction of Japan, will be completed by 2015. The cost was estimated at $131 million under the grant aid from Japan.

Construction starts on 3rd Japan-donated bridge in Cambodia [-Neak Loeung Bridge]

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 12 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Construction on a third bridge in Cambodia to be built with Japanese economic assistance began Saturday on a route crossing the Mekong River to Vietnam.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said the bridge, at 2,240 meters, will be the longest and "most beautiful" in the country.

The structure, 37.5 meters above the river at its highest point, will provide a direct transportation link to Vietnam.

The new bridge is at the Neak Loeung River Crossing, 56 kilometers southeast of Phnom Penh. Construction is expected to take until February 2015.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Yutaka Banno, Japan's secretary of state for foreign affairs, said, "This bridge will not only link the two sides of the river, but link all countries in the region, tying Cambodia today to the future, linking Japan to Cambodia and this bridge will become a popular symbolic tie for our two countries."

Cambodia To Build Bridge On Trans-Asean Road [-Neak Loeung Bridge]

PHNOM PENH, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Cambodia will kick off the construction of a bridge on the trans-Asean road route on February 12, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.

The plan was revealed by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday at the inauguration ceremony for a hospital in Kampong Cham province.

The Neak Loeung bridge is designed to become the largest and longest in Cambodia with a width of 13.5m and a length of 2.2 km.

It will span the Mekong river to connect Cambodia's Kandal and Prey Veng provinces with Vietnam.

Estimated to cost around US$131 million, it is expected to be completed in 2015 to facilitate travels and transportation between Cambodia and other Asean member countries, especially Vietnam.

Japan signs $131 million deal with Cambodia for Mekong bridge

Japan signed an agreement to provide a $131 million grant to Cambodia to build what will be the longest bridge across the Mekong River and a major link in a regional transport network.

Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Reuters

Japan signed an agreement on Wednesday to provide a $131 million grant to Cambodia to build what will be the longest bridge across the Mekong River and a major link in a regional transport network.

Construction of the bridge over the Mekong, at the town of Neak Leoung, southeast of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, is expected to begin soon and should be completed by 2015.

"It's to contribute to the transfer of people and goods for Cambodia and all the Mekong region," Japan's ambassador to Cambodia, Masafumi Kuroki, told reporters at the signing ceremony.

Cambodia is still rebuilding its infrastructure, with the help of foreign aid donors, after decades of war and turmoil that ended in the 1990s.

Travellers now have to use a ferry to cross the river at Neak Leoung, a major bottleneck on the main road between Phnom Penh and Vietnam.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said the bridge would facilitate the transport of goods and people between Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and China.

"This bridge is very important, not only for Cambodia, but also for all countries in the Mekong region," the minister said.

Japan took the lead at an aid donors conference this month when Cambodia was promised a total of $1.1 billion in aid for 2010, more than the government had been expecting, to support a goal of 6 percent economic growth for the year.

Opposition MP: Japan freezes Neak Loeung bridge funding (on National Road No. 1)

SRP MP Ly Srey Vina

30 December 2009
By Botum Roth
Free Press Magazine
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

An opposition MP indicated that, lately, following the National Assembly (NA) debate on the expropriation law yesterday, Japan decided to freeze its $74 million grant for the construction of a bridge crossing the Mekong river in Neak Loeung, along National Road No. 1.

The reason MP Ly Srey Vina raised this issue was because Cambodia declined to pay compensations to the families who live in the area where the bridge will be built.

Ms. Ly Srey Vina claimed during the NA debate that: “We went all the way to Japan, but Japan refused to release this grant, they told us to resolve the eviction by providing appropriate compensation, then Japan will provide the grant.”

Nevertheless, CPP MP Chheang Vun rejected this claim. He said that the Cambodian delegation to Japan did include SRP MP Ly Srey Vina, “they (the Cambodian delegation) met with the Japanese opposition committee in charge of Foreign Affairs, and the Japanese opposition committee surely does not support the Japanese government [decision].”

However, MP Ly Srey Vina said that the chairman of the Japanese Foreign Affairs committee [from the ruling party] “indicated that Japan will not support the development [project] as long as people are being affected. The Cambodian delegation requested [aid] for the construction on this bridge because it will be very useful, but Japan said that it will not provide any aid that will hurt people in any country.”

The term development should be viewed as progress, however, for the Cambodian people, this term is turned into concerns as developments bring on destruction of their houses, and they cannot receive proper market value compensation for their losses. This issue is a long and contentious case between the victimized people and the government,

However, following the ratification of the controversial expropriation law on 29 December, this law is providing the right to the government to confiscate houses and other properties from the people under the pretense of development and it will also likely cut down the number of future confrontations against the government. On the other hand, the suffering and pain inflicted on the people will likely be increased with the adoption of this law.

Neak Loeung Bridge construction to be completed before the end of 2008

Thursday, June 21, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The construction plan for the Neak Loeung bridge, or the second bridge crossing the Mekong River, will be completed by the end of 2008. This claim was made by Chhim Phalla, an official from the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation and a facilitator working with the Japanese JICA organization, to the Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper on Tuesday. Chhim Phalla said that the construction plan is progressing smoothly and the work being currently performed is the environmental impact study of the bridge construction. Chhim Phalla said that the environmental impact study will be completed by 2007, and after that, Japan will submit the project to a bidding process to select a construction consultant company and a contractor for the construction of the bridge. The Neak Loeung bridge will have a span of 2,500-meter, and will cost about $74 million to build. The height of the bridge at its mid-deck will be 37.5-meter so that even during rainy season (when the water level is at its highest), ships can travel underneath it easily.