Commune Chief Pushes Ahead With Community Road Plan

Ground-breaking ceremonies are scheduled to be held today for a controversial road project spearheaded by the commune chief of Tuol Tumpong II in Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon district.

After a survey showed a majority of residents wanting to contribute money to pave a stretch of Street 470, commune chief Yuon Sopon decided to move ahead.

“We made an evaluation among the people here…whether they wanted this road laid from their own funds or by waiting for government construction,” he said. “Most of them said they want the road…and they are willing to spend their own funds.”

Commune residents pitched in $9,000, enough to rehabilitate 220 meters of the street, Yuon Sopon said. Eight of 44 residents did not come up with any funds.

“This road is completely paid for by the people,” Yuon Sopon said. “This is a good example for other people to follow in the future.”

Some residents were not so sure. Several families placed rubber tires on the street in front of their homes to protest the project.

“I was asked many times when was I going to give money, and why don’t I want to build the road,” said one woman who asked not to be named. “They gave me a two-month deadline to pay. But I told them I have no money, not even on a one-year deadline.”

Many residents along the street rent large villas, and $100 is not a lot for them, one neighbor said. But for others in the neighborhood, that amount is much too high.

“Where do [our] taxes go?” that neighbor asked. “It is a government matter,” added Yim Yan, a 66-year-old woman. “It is not for me to build roads.”

“It is no problem for the poor people,” Yuon Sopon responded. “The neighbors with the ability have agreed to pay for them. Now we have no obstacle for construction.”

 

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