New Seaport First of Several Plans for Kampot

Construction on a new international seaport in Kampot province is the first phase in a planned multi-million-dollar special economic zone and new city development for the quiet coastal province, officials said Monday.

Vinh Huor said his company, “Kampot Special Economic Zone,” began building the seaport, which is a $35 million joint venture with a Malaysian firm, earlier this year and hoped to complete construction by 2009.

KSEZ received permission from the government last year to build on 1,000 hectares of land on the coast around 8 km from the foot of Bokor mountain in Kampot district, Vinh Huor said.

Factories using the new Kampot seaport would be able to access European and US markets more easily, Vinh Huor said, adding that the development would be a boon for businesses setting up in the area.

“For the first phase, the company will build a port and then other buildings in the surrounding zone,” Vinh Huor said, adding that in 2010 his company would begin building garment factories and housing for laborers working at the site.

“Villas, apartments, hotels, supermarkets and a stadium will all be here, similar to Camko City [a development planned in Phnom Penh],” Vinh Huor said.

The new Kampot seaport is the latest in a string of 14 SEZs that have been cleared for establishment across Cambodia in recent years.

A December 2005 sub-decree establishing the zones entitles SEZ investors to tax holidays; duty-free imports on construction, production and transportation equipment; free repatriation of profits; and long-term leases on land.

Sok Chenda, secretary-general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, confirmed on Monday that the project was to develop a new city for Kampot.

“For the first phase the company will build a port and then other buildings in the surrounding zone,” he said, but declined to answer further questions.

However, a number of villagers in the vicinity of the port have complained to provincial authorities that the construction will adversely affect their livelihoods as fishing communities.

Nearly 400 families in Kampot’s Boeng Touk commune sent a complaint to the provincial Fisheries Department on No­vember 17, asking that the port development be halted, the de­partment’s Director Tim Sa­vuth said.

“According to the complaints from the villagers in Roluos, Kep Thmei and Totoeng Thngay Port villages, the new construction affects the mangroves and daily fishing,” he said. Tim Savuth said he planned to visit the area and make a report to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Vinh Huor dismissed the concerns Monday, saying that the new port would not affect fishing grounds or mangroves but would generate employment for around 20,000 people.

Kampot provincial Governor Thach Khorn said the port construction and SEZ development had been fully cleared by the government and that he was unaware of any complaints from villagers in the area.

“No one reported this to me, but I intend to look into it,” he said.

 

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