As part of a plan to create a riverside promenade south from Hun Sen Park to the Monivong Bridge, some 150 squatter families were removed Monday from the banks of the Tonle Bassac, Phnom Penh Governor Chea Sophara said Tuesday.
The squatters in Chaktomuk and Tonle Bassac districts were moved to make way for the project which will include a new park and 5 km pathway that will extend south from Hun Sen Park—near the Independence Monument—along the Tonle Bassac to the southern end of Monivong Boulevard.
“The project will begin next February. We will take the plan step by step, depending on our capacity and funds,” said Chea Sophara.
The governor said the squatter families—all of who are Cambodian nationals, he maintained—were removed and relocated to an island some 300 meters from their original site near the Naga floating casino.
“They are not happy, but now that the [Tonle Bassac] waters have lowered they must go or they will stay forever,” said Chea Sophara.
Chea Sophara has recently led the municipality’s refurbishment of the Sisowath Quay promenade and a public park in front of the Royal Palace.
