The Siem Reap Angkor International Airport has completed its compensation negotiations with the forest community affected by new road construction between Siem Reap city and the airport.
The new road will stretch more than 60 kilometres and link the currently under-construction airport with Siem Reap city.
Tea Kimsoth, director of the provincial agriculture department of Siem Reap said yesterday that Sar Choeung, a part of the community affected by the construction of the new road, has successfully resolved the issue of compensation with the Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co Ltd, which operates under the Chinese state-run Yunnan Investment Holdings Ltd (YIHL).
According to Kimsoth, the compensation budget will be used to develop the whole of the Sar Choeung forest community. Located in Sotr Nikom district, the Sar Choeung forestry community includes nearly 100 families.
“The company can proceed to the construction work now,” he said. The new road will facilitate traffic flows between the airport and the city, said Ly Samrith, deputy governor of Siem Reap.
He added: “The airport’s plans to build a new road [were made] because the existing road number 6 will be over-capacity once traffic between the two locations increases,”
No additional information of the road construction has been unveiled. According to Samrith, the new road construction will be undertaken by Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co Ltd and the cost of construction will be borne by the firm.
Construction of the new $880 million Siem Reap International Airport project began in March last year and will take three years to complete. The new airport – set to be the largest in Cambodia – will be located 51km southeast of downtown Siem Reap and 40km from the Angkor Archaeological Park. It will cover an area of around 700 hectares.
Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co Ltd signed a 55-year concession with the Cambodian government for the new airport in 2017.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
