EU Asks for New Road to Be Stopped

KHMER TIMES
ROS CHANVEASNA

EU Ambassador George Edgar held a press conference after visiting Mondulkiri province earlier this year. KT/Mai Vireak

The government will reconsider the route of a planned road it wants to build through protected forest in Mondulkiri province after the European Union’s ambassador raised concerns yesterday over the negative environmental impact it will have.

According to the National Police website yesterday, Interior Minister Sar Kheng met with EU Ambassador George Edgar at the ministry in Phnom Penh to discuss environmental issues.

It notes Mr. Edgar was stressing that the proposed road, intended to link the new Kbal Bamrey border checkpoint with Vietnam, will be disastrous for the local environment.

“The proposed road will affect the core of the last remaining resource and risk losing the natural resources – including endangered wildlife.”

Por Pheak, chief of the Interior Ministry’s international relations department, told Khmer Times that the project is now suspended after receiving information relating to its environmental impact.

“Samdech Kralahom Sar Kheng will form a joint committee, consisting of national and local government level officials, to study the effects of the road on the environment, and how it is specifically effecting the environment,” he said.

He added that should the committee find the road’s damage to be too great, they will look for alternative options to help protect the region’s forests and wildlife.

WWF-Cambodia director Chhith Sam Ath welcomed the move.

“I really applaud the government’s decision to reconsider the proposed road that would likely cause significant deforestation inside the forest,” he said.

He questioned the need for a new border checkpoint at all, as there are already four in the province, adding that it would only allow criminals to further strip the region of its wildlife and trees.