The Council of Ministers announced March 21 it has approved a plan to construct a 200-megawatt coal-burning power plant in Sihanoukville.
According to the minutes of a Friday meeting presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen, Power Synergy Corporation Co Ltd and the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy will sign an agreement on an unspecified date. State-owned utility Electricite du Cambodge will also sign an electricity purchase deal with the company, according to the meeting minutes.
Ty Norin, planning director for EdC, said that the plant is expected to be built for around $390 million. He added that the deals with Power Synergy Corp, which he said is a Malaysian firm, would be signed on March 27.
Ith Praing, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Industry, and Sihanoukville Municipal Governor Say Hak both said they were too busy to speak with a reporter Friday.
Media reports identified Power Synergy Corp as a joint venture seeking to build the plant with the Malaysian holding company Leader Universal Holdings, however the company could not be reached March 21.
The Cabinet Ministry also announced the approval of a sub-decree on the management and control of civilian-owned firearms. According to the meeting minutes, the Interior Ministry-drafted sub-decree will regulate the selling and purchasing of guns, as well as the transportation of weapons both inside Cambodia and across international borders.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan could not be reached for comment Friday, and copies of the sub-decree were not immediately available.
Interior Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak directed questions to the ministry’s department of firearms control, where official could not be reached.
