Cambodian gov't increases budgets for maintaining, repairing roads

PHNOM PENH, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian government has decided to increase a budget of 62.5 billion riel (about 15.63 million U.S. dollars) for a regular road-repairing program, in addition to 244.5 billion riel (about 60 million U.S. dollars) provided for road repair and construction project in 2009, official news agency AKP (Agence Kampuchea Presse) reported on Friday.

The additional fund will be used for maintaining and repairing asphalted and laterite roads with a total length of 3,652 kilometers in the cities and provinces in the country, according to a news release of the ministry of Finance and Economy.

The program is carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport with the budget provided by the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

Besides the fund for implementing the regular road-maintaining program, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport reserved a budget of 10 billion riel for emergency repairing in case the traffic on the roads is accidentally closed because of the possibility of the damage to the road in unexpected way.

However, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the Ministry of Finance and Economy acknowledged that the implementation of the regular road-repairing program is so big because the royal government gained many achievements of road and bridge construction.

It is noted that in 2008 the royal government provided 33 billion riel (about 8.25 million U.S. dollars) to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport for a regular road-repairing program with a length of 2,463 kilometers, additionally an annual budget of over 201.3 billion riel (roughly 60 million U.S. dollars) for road and bridge infrastructure project.

Editor: Yan