Thursday, December 31, 2015
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Gov’t takes Angkor ticketing back
Gov’t takes Angkor ticketing back from powerful Sokimex
The government will next year take full control of ticketing at the Angkor Wat Archeological Park, 17 years after the contract was outsourced to the politically connected Sokimex group, an arrangement long plagued by accusations of irregularities.
Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the end of the conglomerate’s tenure at the world heritage site at a cabinet meeting yesterday morning, revealing an inter-ministerial body would replace the company, owned by tycoon Sok Kong.
Denying that alleged corruption was a factor in the decision, government spokesman Phay Siphan said, because the company’s latest five-year contract finished next year, it was simply time for the government to take over and boost state revenue collected from the park.
“When the business started, the government needed a partner. At that time the government had no ability to invest in that sector, so we looked to the private sector,” Siphan said.
“Now the government sees this business is stable, the number of tourists has increased and, instead of partnering with the private sector, the government prefers to do it on our own to maximise the income for the state.”
According to figures from the Apsara Authority this week, which manages the ancient temple complex, foreign visitors in the first 10 months of this year increased 2 per cent to 1.67 million, while revenue for the period rose 0.6 per cent to $47,681,080.
For October, 153,308 foreign visitors (up 2 per cent) brought in some $4.3 million, a 4.5 per cent increase on October 2014.
Since 1999, Sokimex, through its hospitality arm Sokha Hotels and Resorts, which runs hotels in Siem Reap, Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh, has sold tickets under a profit-share system with Apsara, led by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.
Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Son Chhay, who has personally investigated the deal, claims that, under the arrangement, Apsara has under-reported visitors and revenue, with large amounts of cash unaccounted for.
Yesterday, Chhay welcomed the decision, saying he hoped it would herald increased transparency in the management of Cambodia’s biggest tourism draw card.
“It is a good thing. I hope that this changing hands will benefit the country,” Chhay said.
Tycoon Sok Kong was unable to be reached for comment yesterday.
The company’s chief legal and corporate affairs officer, Svay Vuthy, declined to comment.
According to government spokesman Siphan, a “public institution”, co-managed by the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Finance and Economics, will be set up to take over ticketing in January.
Apsara Authority spokesman Long Kosal said the decision had been considered for some time and was based “on public opinion and the law”.
Siphan said Apsara would remain in charge of preservation and conservation at the Angkor park and the exact functions to be handled by the new body would be decided in due course.
He said staffing arrangements would not change.
~News courtesy of Phnom Penh Post~
The government will next year take full control of ticketing at the Angkor Wat Archeological Park, 17 years after the contract was outsourced to the politically connected Sokimex group, an arrangement long plagued by accusations of irregularities.
Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the end of the conglomerate’s tenure at the world heritage site at a cabinet meeting yesterday morning, revealing an inter-ministerial body would replace the company, owned by tycoon Sok Kong.
Denying that alleged corruption was a factor in the decision, government spokesman Phay Siphan said, because the company’s latest five-year contract finished next year, it was simply time for the government to take over and boost state revenue collected from the park.
“When the business started, the government needed a partner. At that time the government had no ability to invest in that sector, so we looked to the private sector,” Siphan said.
“Now the government sees this business is stable, the number of tourists has increased and, instead of partnering with the private sector, the government prefers to do it on our own to maximise the income for the state.”
According to figures from the Apsara Authority this week, which manages the ancient temple complex, foreign visitors in the first 10 months of this year increased 2 per cent to 1.67 million, while revenue for the period rose 0.6 per cent to $47,681,080.
For October, 153,308 foreign visitors (up 2 per cent) brought in some $4.3 million, a 4.5 per cent increase on October 2014.
Since 1999, Sokimex, through its hospitality arm Sokha Hotels and Resorts, which runs hotels in Siem Reap, Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh, has sold tickets under a profit-share system with Apsara, led by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.
Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Son Chhay, who has personally investigated the deal, claims that, under the arrangement, Apsara has under-reported visitors and revenue, with large amounts of cash unaccounted for.
Yesterday, Chhay welcomed the decision, saying he hoped it would herald increased transparency in the management of Cambodia’s biggest tourism draw card.
“It is a good thing. I hope that this changing hands will benefit the country,” Chhay said.
Tycoon Sok Kong was unable to be reached for comment yesterday.
The company’s chief legal and corporate affairs officer, Svay Vuthy, declined to comment.
According to government spokesman Siphan, a “public institution”, co-managed by the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Finance and Economics, will be set up to take over ticketing in January.
Apsara Authority spokesman Long Kosal said the decision had been considered for some time and was based “on public opinion and the law”.
Siphan said Apsara would remain in charge of preservation and conservation at the Angkor park and the exact functions to be handled by the new body would be decided in due course.
He said staffing arrangements would not change.
~News courtesy of Phnom Penh Post~
吴哥门票销售经营权‧政府收回明年起生效
吴哥门票销售经营权‧政府收回明年起生效
政府宣佈，取消与速卡酒店之间的吴哥门票销售管理协议，並交由財经部和旅游部成立新国营企业负责，这项决定於明年1月1日起生效。
洪森总理是在昨早主持內阁会议时，作出上述决定。
內阁事务部发言人帕西潘昨日在面子书上留言称，政府已决定从私人企业收回吴哥门票销售经营权，这是政府改革的一部份。
他还说，政府已决定成立一个国营企业，並指示旅游部和財经部组成的跨部门委员会，负责成立专门接管吴哥门票销售工作的国营企业。
仙女机构发言人隆古索昨日接受媒体採访时，也证实了此消息。
来自反对党的国会財经和审计委员会副主席宋才对政府的决定表示欢迎，並认为这將大幅提高吴哥门票收入，估计每年將额外增加5千万至1亿美元。
仙女机构之前针对政府出租吴哥一事发出声明，说明仙女机构並没有把吴哥古蹟出租给卡速酒店，反而是仙女机构委托速卡酒店，负责销售和收集吴哥门票收入的工作。
它说明，吴哥门票总收入其中的15%，分配给负责销售门票的速卡酒店，门票收入10%用来缴付增值税，15%纳入保护和开发吴哥窟遗址国际协调委员会基金，剩余60%的收入全部交给政府。
据仙女机构报告，今年1月至10月，吴哥古跡接待国际游客167万人次，同比增长2%。另外，吴哥门票收入约4768万美元，同比微增0.62%。
（柬埔寨星洲日报）
政府宣佈，取消与速卡酒店之间的吴哥门票销售管理协议，並交由財经部和旅游部成立新国营企业负责，这项决定於明年1月1日起生效。
洪森总理是在昨早主持內阁会议时，作出上述决定。
內阁事务部发言人帕西潘昨日在面子书上留言称，政府已决定从私人企业收回吴哥门票销售经营权，这是政府改革的一部份。
他还说，政府已决定成立一个国营企业，並指示旅游部和財经部组成的跨部门委员会，负责成立专门接管吴哥门票销售工作的国营企业。
仙女机构发言人隆古索昨日接受媒体採访时，也证实了此消息。
来自反对党的国会財经和审计委员会副主席宋才对政府的决定表示欢迎，並认为这將大幅提高吴哥门票收入，估计每年將额外增加5千万至1亿美元。
仙女机构之前针对政府出租吴哥一事发出声明，说明仙女机构並没有把吴哥古蹟出租给卡速酒店，反而是仙女机构委托速卡酒店，负责销售和收集吴哥门票收入的工作。
它说明，吴哥门票总收入其中的15%，分配给负责销售门票的速卡酒店，门票收入10%用来缴付增值税，15%纳入保护和开发吴哥窟遗址国际协调委员会基金，剩余60%的收入全部交给政府。
据仙女机构报告，今年1月至10月，吴哥古跡接待国际游客167万人次，同比增长2%。另外，吴哥门票收入约4768万美元，同比微增0.62%。
（柬埔寨星洲日报）
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
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~
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~
Sunday, September 6, 2015
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~
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）
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
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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）
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）
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