Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet launched a contentious $1.7 billion canal project on Monday, aimed at forging a new link between the Mekong River and the sea, reports Phys.org.
"We must build this canal at all costs," declared Manet and hailed the 180-kilometre (110-mile) project as "historic."
Once completed, the Funan Techo canal will extend from a point on the Mekong River, about an hour's drive southeast of the capital, to the Gulf of Thailand. However, the project's main objectives—whether for shipping or irrigation—remain unclear, as do its funding sources and its impact on the flow of the Mekong River, one of the world's longest rivers.
Environmentalists have long cautioned that the Mekong, which sustains up to a quarter of the world's freshwater fish catch and half of Vietnam's rice production, is under threat from infrastructure projects, pollution, sand mining, and climate change. Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand are signatories to the 1995 Mekong River Agreement, which governs the distribution of the river's resources.
Cambodia has informed the Mekong River Commission (MRC) of its canal plans, but Vietnam is demanding more details about the project.
Phnom Penh maintains that the canal impacts only a tributary of the Mekong and has therefore provided the necessary notification.
The government asserts that the canal will offer an alternative route for container ships currently passing through Vietnam en route to the sea, thereby retaining transport revenue within Cambodia. Plans for riverside economic zones along the canal's route could create tens of thousands of jobs in one of Southeast Asia's poorest nations.
Last year, the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a Chinese construction giant, agreed to conduct a feasibility study for the project. While Cambodian officials have suggested that the Chinese state-owned company might finance part of the canal, CRBC has not released its study or made any public commitments. Despite Cambodia's close ties with Beijing, Hun Sen has denied that the canal will be part of China's Belt and Road Initiative.
