Cambodia’s cabinet of ministers were hauled onto a bus Friday by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who had them driven over Cambodia’s deteriorating country roads for three hours while he questioned why millions of aid dollars have not been used to shore up the country’s failing infrastructure.
“Only this way can I make ministers understand the people’s suffering and difficulties,” a clearly angry Hun Sen told reporters who scrambled into cars to follow the circus.
About 30 vehicles made the often jarring 60 km trip to the town of Neak Leung along National Route 1, which has become badly pitted with neglect and last year’s heavy flooding.
“What I am most disappointed about is that there are hundreds of millions of dollars in aid but we have let this road become this bad,” Hun Sen said.
“I trusted my subordinates too much and I apologize for that.”
Hun Sen also blamed donors for pledging money for road repair but not delivering the funds quickly enough, saying the country’s roads could not wait for the international community.
He instead ordered the Ministry of Transportation to have the road fixed by Khmer New Year in mid-April, when thousands of Cambodians will travel to their native villages.
“If the government cannot repair this road [by the year’s end], the government should be dissolved,” he said. “Millions of dollars in aid but 60 km of road cannot be made—is this acceptable?”
Poor roads have been blamed for rising transportation costs that make Cambodian goods less competitive in the markets.
They have also contributed to the increasing number of traffic accidents, according to frequent travelers.
“The road is too small and has many holes in it,” said truck driver Im Sophan Friday, who noted that speeding convoys of high-ranking officials didn’t help the situation.
An Asian Development Bank project has been approved to fix route 1 between Neak Leung and the Vietnamese border.
(Additional reporting by AFP)
