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| By
: H.P. Raingsy, Picture by : Nathan Dexter. |
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Prime Minister Hun Sen
and Japanese officials cut the ribbon to
declare the Kampong Cham Bridge across the
Mekong open.
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The new Kampong
Cham Bridge across the Mekong River was officially
opened on December 4. The bridge is the only
one across this mighty river in the whole
of Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen and Japanese
officials headed the dignitaries on hand for
the official opening, cutting the red ribbon.
Construction began on the Japanese-funded
bridge in 1998. Previously, all traffic had
to to cross the river by ferry. The bridge
is expected to help open up trade through
the transport hub of Kampong Cham Town, eventually
providing a key link between the Thai capital
of Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
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Search
For Truth Now In English
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Visitors and expatriates
now have an additional source of information available
to better understand the Khmer Rouge period of Cambodia's
history and the devastating effect it had on the
Cambodian people and culture. The Documentation
Center of Cambodia is now printing an English-language
version of its monthly magazine Searching for the
Truth, which carries a wealth of information chronicling
evidence of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge regime.
Articles include personal accounts of survivors,
as well as papers by leading historians and researchers
and rare photographs of Khmer Rouge leaders. The
English-language version was made possible by funding
from the Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency (SIDA). There are currently translations
of 12 issues previously published in Khmer in the
year 2000. These are available at numerous outlets
including Monument Books, located at 48 Norodom
Boulevard, Phnom Penh. |
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Cambodia
Removed From US Blacklist
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| Cambodia's image overseas
received a further boost recently when the Kingdom
was removed from the US Government's list of countries
considered "major locations" for the production
or transport of illegal drugs. Cambodia was added
to the list in 1996 because the US believed it was
a transit destination for heroin shipments into
the US. Removal from the list was an important step
in Cambodia's ongoing efforts to show the world
it is taking serious steps to clean up its international
image. It now puts the Cambodian government in a
position to sign all three international drug-control
conventions. |
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Cambodia continued its success in the sport of pentanque
recently, capturing first place in the Fifth Asian
Petanque Championship held in Takhmau, Kandal province.
The success followed another win in the same event,
the men's triples, in the Southeast Asian Games
in Malaysia. It was the first time the tournament
was held in Cambodia. Petanque is similar to lawn
bowls and was first introduced to the Kingdom by
the French. Cambodian men and women competed in
the tournament, taking on opponents from Laos, Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore and Japan..
Cigarette and Alcohol price to rise An increase
on cigarette and alcohol taxes was recently foreshadowed
by Prime Minister Hun Sen. He said the extra money
levied will primarily be spent on the reconstruction
of roads. Cambodia is hosting two major meetings
next year-the ASEAN Summit and the Mekong Region
Meeting, which will bring together all nations the
Mekong River flows through. No date was set for
the increases, but the Prime Minister made it clear
that he believed that Cambodia must increase its
domestic tax revenue to provide funds for infrastructure
improvements in time for visits from international
delegations. |
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Phnom
Penh Water Treatment Enhanced
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Phnom Penh's water may soon be as clean and clear
as any in the region. A Japanese grant of $21.5
million has been announced, which will be used to
refurbish the capital's water treatment plant. The
project is due for completion in March 2004. Planned
work includes the improvement and expansion of existing
water intake facilities, installation of more pipelines,
rehabilitation of existing water treatment facilities,
expansion of a major distribution reservoir and
reinforcement of several distribution pumps. More
equipment to test water quality is also being considered.
The facilities in place currently produce enough
water to meet more than half Phnom Penh's total
demand (about one million people), which is about
230,000 cubic meters per day.
Friends and more Innovative non-government organization
Friends has been known in Phnom Penh since February
last year for its classy Tapas restaurant of the
same name. The restaurant is the third stage of
a training program that teaches former street children
the hospitality industry, equipping them with a
valuable skill to ensure independent future lives.
Now Friends has found a way to integrate its hospitality-training
program with other programs including sex and health
education among street kids in a country where HIV/AIDS
is endemic. A new cafe funded by Friends and located
near Psar Thmei (Central Market), behind the Monorom
Hotel, will serve simple snacks, coffee and other
refreshments at local prices. Staffed by trainees
and graduates of the hospitality program, the cafe
will offer local street children health and sex
education and a chat room to the rear of the cafe
where they can talk with each other about events
affecting their lives, speak to a Khmer social worker
and even arrange medical checkups.
"It is a chance for our final stage hospitality
trainees to get some experience in a different venue,
and the aim is that it is somewhere where street
kids can go and know they are going to be safe and
able to talk about their lives to each other and
with professionals if they want to," said Gustav
Auer, Technical Advisor for Friends. Friends is
non-religious and non-political and works at grassroots
levels to help street children become self-supporting
through skills training and education.
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Entrance
Fees To Visit The Royal Palace
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The entrance fee for Khmers wishing to visit the
Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda is 1000 riel, with
an extra 3,000 riel charge on top to bring in a
camera. Foreign visitors will be charged $3, and
are required to pay $2 more to bring in a camera,
or $5 for a video camera. The Royal Palace is open
between 8am and 11am, and 2 till 5pm daily. Photography
is not allowed inside the pagoda itself. |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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