New Phnom Penh mayor identifies problems

Phal Sovann Vathey/Cambodia News
Translated by Rin Sokreth

Phnom Penh- The newly appointed Phnom Penh governor has just indicated the current facing challenges in Phnom Penh capital and it needs help to cope the problems from all, including journalists.

On April 29, 2013 at Hotel Cambodiana, Mr. Pa Socheath Vong indicated that even though “we can see that Phnom Penh has been developing dramatically, but if we look at deeper, we will see that Phnom Penh is confronting many problems”.

In front of foreign journalists from 22 countries and their national counterparts, Mr. Pa Socheath Vong said the officially registered population of Phnom Penh is around 1.5 million but the real number is up to 2.5 million and this is because of the entry of workers  and their family members without registration.

He said  there are many crimes such as drug, rapping, and human trafficking and the criminal are both nationals and foreigners, and it sometimes affects relationship between state and state.

While Phnom Penh’s population has been increasing every day, public transportation is lacking and the other public services are also limited, especially drain system so it might flooding in the city sometimes, he continued.

However, he still feels proud of Phnom Penh that it could join the world competition and could  organize a lot of regional and international conferences successfully without any terrorism.

Pa Socheath Vong who will officially hold the post from 3 May, 2013  hinted that Phnom Penh would host the world conference of the World Heritage Organization in the short future.