Facelift for Sap-Mekong
confluence
Banks
being shored, gardens
The
banks of the Chroy Changva peninsula jetting out in front of the
palace is being strengthened to prevent erosion and silting of the
Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers. The City Hall project will also result
in dredging and restoring the Bassac's width to meet faster flow of
water from the de-silted Sap and Mekong Officials see the project
not only a major flood prevention effort, but also plan to turn that
part of the peninsula into a recreation and tourist site, including
a centre for water sport. The peninsula had been eroding fast,
silting the Sap at the rate of 100,000 cubic metres a month during
three months monitoring this year. The banks are being strengthened
with concrete slabs reinforced with steel bars for a 969-metre
section in hook shape on the bank of the Tonle Sap and covering the
tip of the peninsula into the Mekong side.
The
project, from the Chroy Changva village will have steps to reach the
river as well as jetties for boats. The banks will be planted with
flowering plants and shrubs, provided seats, lighting and other
facilities like in the Hun Sen and Ranariddh parks along Sisowath
Boulevard. About 370,000 cubic metres or eroded soil will be pumped
back to creates the base for the garden as well as 30% of the land
lost at the peninsula's tip. The
effort will reclaim about 128,000 square metres of lost land for the
peninsula. Two islets at the junction of the Tonle Sap and
Mekong are also to be cleared under the programme, expected to cost
about US$ million and funded by City Hall and the private sector.
The project has come under fire from the Sam Rainsy Party. The
claims that expansion of the river will be hazardous to the
environment, but the Minister of the Environment, Mok Mareth
erjected the charges. Mok Mareth said soil erosion and silting must
be stopped to project the environment. The Chroy Changva peninsula
covers 450 hectares.
The
Business News July 23-29, 2001.
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