Express road to airport in works

Express road to airport in works

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport yesterday announced the start of feasibility studies aimed at building an express elevated toll road that would extend from Phnom Penh’s city centre to the airport by 2021.

Public Works Minister Tram Iv Tek said yesterday that China’s Henan Provincial Communications Planning Survey and Design Institute (HPC) would conduct studies into the viability of three different options for building the road, construction on which would begin next year.

Option A involves building an elevated expressway over Russian Boulevard, the main artery between the airport and the city centre.

Option B would see the expressway built over rail lines just north of Russian Boulevard that run parallel to the road. Both plans would require an expressway of just over 8 kilometres.

Option C, Iv Tek continued, would start near the French Embassy and require 11 kilometres of road.

“The expressway in option A will cost around $362 million,” he said. “This option A is a favourite option among the others, because it’s easy to transport the construction materials to build it.”

“Through our discussions, we see that many officials prefer options A and B,” Iv Tek said, adding that the study needs to consider whether the new expressway would connect with current overpasses, or have just one on-ramp and one off-ramp.

The expressway is slated to have four lanes, and would be 17.5 metres wide. As a part of the study, HPC recently deployed pollsters to major intersections to ask drivers what toll they would be comfortable paying to use the new expressway.

“The speed to drive on this road would be 60 kilometres per hour, which is faster” than the present speed, Iv Tek explained. “Currently, we have to spend up to one hour getting from the city to the airport on congested roads.”

Du Zhan Jun, director of HPC, said that the Russian Boulevard option seemed to be the best, as it promised to also alleviate local traffic jams along its length.

“Option A can release congestion in the area of the Council of Ministers and the other intersections on Russian Boulevard,” he said.

Pheng Sovicheano, spokesman for the ministry, said yesterday that the current feasibility study “could last until the end of the year”.

“It’s a build-operate-transfer road with a 30-year contract, for which the Henan Institute needs to find a Chinese partner to invest in building it,” he said, adding that HPC needed to study the impacts of the planned construction.

In a separate meeting, Phnom Penh City Hall announced plans to alleviate congestion on the other end of the city by expanding the Kbal Thnal overpass.

~News courtesy of Phnom Penh Post~

New health checks in works for travellers

New health checks in works for travellers



The Council of Ministers passed a sub-decree on Friday to prevent the spread of global pandemics by allowing officials at the Kingdom’s points of entry to inspect any travellers suspected of having contracted diseases abroad.

Concern that diseases such as bird flu, Ebola, or the more recent Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) could spread to Cambodia prompted the government to pass the sub-decree, according to a statement from the Council of Ministers.

The sub-decree “takes action implementing health and hygiene standards on all passengers”, the statement read.

“All those suspected of having diseases at checkpoints and borders throughout the country will be checked.”

Last year, an Ebola epidemic in West Africa killed over 10,000 people, while an outbreak of MERS in South Korea from May to July of 2015 killed more than 30, according to the World Health Organization.

In response to the crises, Cambodia set up thermal body scanners at its two international airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, along with the land crossings of Bavet and Poipet.

Ly Sovann, chief of the Health Ministry’s Communicable Disease Control Department, said it was difficult to predict how vulnerable Cambodia was to such global diseases, “so we need to prepare”.

~News courtesy of Phnom Penh Post~

巴域木牌边界关口‧將扩大车道减堵塞

巴域木牌边界关口‧將扩大车道减堵塞

柬埔寨政府和亚洲开发银行合作，计划扩大柴楨省巴域（Bavet）和越南木牌（Moc Bai）国际口岸的车道，以解？关口检查站堵塞现象，进一步促进两国商业和旅客往来。

据財经部通告指出，公共工程和运输部要求把巴域和木牌关口的车道，由现有的两条增加於四条，以解决因交通流量激增而出现的交通堵塞现象。

据巴域关口移民官员指出，由於现有关口车道狭窄，导致许多卡车大排长龙，目前估计每天有多达100辆卡车由越南入境我国。

公共工程和运输总局总监肯波雷指出，该局將利用亚洲开发银行提供的援助项目，以扩大关口车道至4车道，工程估计將於明年竣工。

他说，接下来，关口海关大厦也將扩大，由现有的一公顷扩大一倍，以解决堵塞和加快通关速度。

（柬埔寨星洲日报）

长途巴士明年禁入市区‧建巴士站商机引关注

长途巴士明年禁入市区‧建巴士站商机引关注



柬泰合资公司代表向市府表明有意投资巴士停车站。

在金边市府上个月宣佈明年禁止长途巴士进入市区后，已有一家公司看准商机，有意在沿著5號公路上投资兴建巴士停车站。

由泰国和本地合资的运输公司“Nattakan（柬埔寨）有限公司”高层昨早拜访金边市副市长恩欧尼，表明公司有意投资巴士停车站，寻求市府的支持。

该公司总经理东猜珍通（Doungjai Chanthon）女士向恩欧尼副市长表示，经过公司研究考察后，发现金边港口拥有位於雷西郊区5號公路上苏基密油库附近的一块空地，適合用来兴建巴士停车站，並可以吸纳三条路线的巴士，分別金边直通卜迭棉芷省Banteay Meanchey（5號公路）、金边直通暹粒省Siem Reap（6號公路）和金边直通上丁省Stung Treng（7號公路）的班车。

不过，副市长恩欧尼认为，公司提出的上述地点太靠近市区，不便用来兴建巴士停车站，建议公司考虑其他地点。

珍通女士称，虽然公司提出兴建巴士停车站的地点不获市府接受，但公司不放弃投资巴士停车站的计划，並且会寻找其他適合的地点进行开发。

“这只是公司的第一步计划，虽然不获赞同，但我们会找其他地点……其实远离市区更好，因为土地价格会更便宜。”

恩欧尼表示，市府鼓励私人公司投资兴建巴士停车站，但希望在適当的地点，以有效紓解金边的交通压力，同时也为乘客提供便利。

他建议公司，考虑为乘客提供从市內巴士售票处至城外巴士停车站的接送服务，可以利用小车、嘟嘟车或摩托车接送乘客。

金边市长巴速杰德旺上个月宣佈，明年起所有重型车辆，包括长途巴士和货柜卡车，都不得驶入市区，以解决市区交通堵塞问题。

他指出，所有重型车辆必须在城外停车，不得驶入市区造成交通堵塞，並影响到其他公路使用者。

市长鼓励私人公司投资新兴巴士停车站，但要选择合適的地点。

根据金边市府出台的新规划，3號和4號公路长途巴士停车站將在宗周分区一带、5號公路在九支牌、6號公路將停在莲花湖地区一带，及2號公路將停在大金欧市(Ta Khmau)。

（柬埔寨星洲日报）

廉航HK Express‧开通香港暹粒直航

廉航HK Express‧开通香港暹粒直航



香港廉航HK Express首席执行员安德鲁卡文及港澳总领事潘皮欧等人，从香港飞来柬埔寨，见证首航开启的歷史性时刻。

香港廉航HK Express的首个航机，於昨早8时33分降陆暹粒(Siem Reap)国际机场，正式开启香港──暹粒直飞航线，成为继港龙之后，第二家提供柬港直飞的航空公司。

昨早8时33分，HK Express的空中巴士A320载著166名乘客，飞抵暹粒国际机场，该航空公司首席执行员安德鲁卡文及港澳总领事潘皮欧，从香港一同来到机场，见证与欢庆这个別具意义的一刻。

据HK Express廉航透露，暹粒国际机场每天都有来回香港与暹粒的航班，另一个提供航班者为港龙航空公司。

暹粒国际机场总经理布鲁诺．达罗斯指出，暹粒被“孤单星球”评选为第一名的旅游地，並且在“Tripadvisor”的排行榜排名第二位。 “对於上述航空公司开启航班直飞这里，我们表示热烈的欢迎。”

2014年，暹粒国际机场共迎来300万海內外搭客，客流量增长13%，为了应付日益增加的旅客人次，柬埔寨机场管理公司於去年年初展开扩建工程，预计为500万旅客服务，工程料於2016年3月竣工。

（柬埔寨星洲日报）

卜省接泰国沙缴府‧铁路带动跨境贸易

卜省接泰国沙缴府‧铁路带动跨境贸易

从卜迭棉芷省(Banteay Meanchey)是士分市(Sisophon)连接波比市(Poi Pet)的铁路工程已竣工，而波比市至泰国沙缴府(Sa Kaew)也將兴建，將进一步带动柬泰跨境贸易。

公共工程和运输部铁路局局长李波文指出，由卜省是士分市至波比市全长42公里的铁路已竣工，而该局也將於今年杪举行招標会，以兴建剩余从波比市至泰国沙缴府阿蓝巴贴路段（6公里）。

“我们將动用国家资金，以完成卜迭棉芷省铁路路段。”李波文说，柬泰铁路將为货品运输提供便利，使货品可以直接从泰国进入柬埔寨，或是从柬运入泰国。

他说，因卡车超载问题，导致公路损坏不堪，令政府必须花费大量资金以修建。泰国首相巴育上週向泰国媒体透露，一旦柬泰铁路重新接通，將对两地边境经济特区的建立带来好处，同时也將惠及泰国的土瓦深水码头（Dawei）。

从是士分连接泰国阿蓝巴贴的铁路是於1970年因柬埔寨內战而中断。据商业部报告指出，去年，柬泰双方贸易金额约51亿美元，相比2013年46亿美元，增加11%。其中，今年首三个月，柬埔寨对泰国出口“翻倍”，达到2亿6100万美元，相比2013年同期，增加1亿3400万美元。

（柬埔寨星洲日报）