After more than two years of research and development, a transportation plan designed to ease traffic congestion in Phnom Penh has been completed and will be soon submitted to the government for approval, officials said yesterday.
Long Dimanche, spokesperson of Phnom Penh City Hall, told the Post that the analysis takes in to account population growth, urbanisation and the expected increase in the level of traffic congestion over the next two decades. Developed in conjunction with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the plan considers the options available to reduce the number of vehicles in the city, including more busses, a tramway, a subway and even a sky train, Dimanche said.
We will not be able to deal with traffic congestion issue by that time if we have not developed a master plan from now, he said.
The master plan will be used as a guideline to develop the city and the possibility of realisation of the plan will depend on actual demand and possible funding, he added.
The drafted Transportation master plan for 2035 will be revealed to public by JICA on August 27 before it is submitted to the government for approval.
Ear Chariya, Independent Road Safety Specialist, said he hoped the government would focus on providing more public transportation services rather than building more roads as it is less expensive and would not ease long-term congestion.
We need more public transportation services, such as buses and tram ways or a subway, he said.
Aya Miura, Project Formulation Advisor for Investment Promotion and Economic Development Section of JICA, confirmed in an email yesterday that the plan is expected to be finalised this year and is a more comprehensive 2001 version.
As part part of its multibillion-dollar Urban Transport Master Plan, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) unveiled a modern rail system for Phnom Penh yesterday that could begin operation as soon as 2023.
The trains would thin out traffic on the capitals choked-up roads, which currently lack any sort of public transport save a lone bus line along Monivong Boulevard though more lines are planned.
Without trains, this city will become like Jakarta, Masato Koto, the master plans project leader, told the Post, in a reference to the Indonesian capitals notorious traffic jams.
The first part of the proposed rail system would run in an east-west loop from the airport to the city centre, with the route likely to cost a total of $1.35 billion, according to the projects own assessment.
The loop would carry about 72,500 to 81,600 passengers a day on partially underground and elevated railways, and would connect the citys downtown to the western fringe area where urbanisation is in progress, according to the projects handbook.
The Master Plan proposes a network of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), rail and freight routes estimated to cost $4.5 billion over 20 years a massive sum that would be raised through donors, the city government and the private sector.
Raising such a big figure would likely require participation from private companies, although inviting them to the table is a very, very delicate process, JICA deputy chief Takashi Ito said.
While the projects high ambition is only rivalled by its price tag, its actual implementation is another issue entirely.
Asked if he was confident the proposal would be approved by the government, Ito said it was quite difficult to create a consensus among stakeholders.
If passed, one significant concern would be the fate of people potentially displaced.
Phnom Penh City Council Deputy Governor Trak Thai Seang said that people forced to move, such as those selling sugarcane on the road, would be better off. For the affected peoples, we will prepare schools, hospitals; it will be more peaceful.
About 30 representatives of families living along the railway in Phnom Penhs Toul Kok district Tuesday gathered outside the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to submit a new request for information about how residents would be affected by a Bank-funded railway rehabilitation project.
About 20 members of the embattled Boeng Kak and Thmar Kol communities joined the representatives, who want to know how they will be impacted by the second and third phases the railway project.
The first phase of the $143-million railway project will affect families living within 3.5 meters of the tracks on both sides, but the ADB has refused to say if later phases of the project will require more land.
Ny Sandos, a representative of the affected families, said that the ADBs latest response to the familys demand for a full explanation of its plans for the railway through their community did not address their concerns.
We come today to reject the ADBs letter that was given to us [on August 8]; their answer is not related to our question, she said. We informed them that we will return to get information on September 1.
About 1,000 families have already been evicted to make way for the railway project, and the ADB and government have been widely criticized for failing to offer the families proper compensation or relocation sites.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy yesterday talked with families affected by an Asian Development Bank-funded railway rehabilitation project to tell them that he had met with the bank to try to address their situation.
We have already become lawmakers, so we will use our power to help find justice for you all, he told a crowd of more than 200 people at Boeung Kak 1 commune.
Rainsy recapped additional compensation procedures agreed to between the ADB and the government in April, including payments that would finally account for miscategorisation of house valuations and inflation.
What they thought for nearly 10 years is wrong, he said.
In response, City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said that those who had been living close to the railway were residing there illegally and that Rainsy was wrong.
Eric Sidgwick, ADB country representative, said the bank did not discuss the project in detail with Rainsy but had noted some of the remedial actions the government had agreed to.
About 50 villagers who live near railway lines in Phnom Penh gathered outside the Asian Development Bank yesterday morning to again demand more detailed information about what will happen to them during forthcoming phases of a bank-funded railway rehabilitation project.
Long Chandy, who represents the Tuol Sangke (B) community in Russey Keo district, said families feared further project phases will require them to vacate their homes.
Phase one of the project will affect villagers within 3.5 metres of the tracks.
Chandy said villagers had seen documents saying families living within 20 metres of the lines would be affected in further phases.
But ADB country representative Eric Sidgwick said the project only requires a corridor of impact (3.5 meters from the center line in Phnom Penh). The issues raised were outside the scope of the Project. We agreed to bring their questions to the Government.
លោកប្រធាន អ្នកតំណាងរាស្ត្រ សមាជិកព្រឹទ្ធសភា និងខ្ញុំ បានចុះសួរសុខទុក្ខប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ ដែលរស់នៅសងខាងផ្លូវរទេះភ្លើងកាលពីរសៀលថ្ងៃនេះ ដើម្បីពន្យល់ពីសិទ្ធពួកគាត់។ LP Sam Rainsy, the parliamentarians, senators of CNRP and I visited the people who are living along the railway this afternoon to explain them about their right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lZWuFKNwEY
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