New Cambodia canal might boost trade but risks harming the Mekong River

(25 Sep 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++PART MUTE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kandal, Cambodia - 30 July 2024
1. Wide of Sok Kouen tidying the area in front of her home, in path of Funan Techo Canal
2. Various of Sok Kouen cleaning dishes
3. Various drone shots of start point of canal ++MUTE++
4. SOUNDBITE (Khmer): Sok Kouen, local resident
“What worries me the most is having to move somewhere else. I want the government’s compensation to me to be an appropriate amount.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kandal, Cambodia - 5 August 2024
5. Wide of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, backed by cheering crowds, inaugurates the canal project
6. Balloons and coloured smoke rise into sky
7. Various of canal project and crowds
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Phnom Penh, Cambodia - 1 September 2024
8. Sunset over Mekong River
9. Ferry on Mekong River
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Siem Reap, Cambodia - 2 August 2024
10. Various of fishing boats on Tonle Sap lake ++MUTE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Siem Reap, Cambodia - 31 July 2024
11. Various of fishermen wading in Tonle Sap and casting net ++MUTE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington, D.C. - 1 August 2024
12. SOUNDBITE (English): Brian Eyler, director of The Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Program
“The Mekong is an important food zone for the people of the Mekong and the world. This canal is going to change that. This canal, one, is going to severely impact the rice production in Vietnam that will have both global and domestic consequences for Vietnam.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Can Tho, Vietnam - 17 May 2017
13. Various of Mekong River in Vietnam
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Hoi An, Vietnam - 10 April 2015
14. Various of Vietnamese rice fields
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Singapore - 4 August 2024
15. SOUNDBITE (English): Nguyen Khac Giang, Visiting fellow at Singapore’s Yusof Ishak Institute
“For Vietnam, there are a lot of concerns. Not only because (of) environmental impacts on the Mekong Delta but also about the more, kind of like, long-term impacts on the Cambodian-Vietnamese relations. Because as we might (be) aware, the project is mostly funded by Chinese investment. And so this might signal the moving away from Vietnamese influence efforts made by the new Cambodian government.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kandal, Cambodia - 5 August 2024
16. Various of crowds at canal inauguration
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kandal, Cambodia - 30 July 2024
17. Wide drone shot of canal project ++MUTE++
STORYLINE:
An ambitious canal project in Cambodia is stirring nationalist pride and raising hopes of an economic boon, but there’s growing alarm it could devastate the natural flood systems of the Mekong River and even affect global food security.
The Funan Techo Canal will run from the capital Phnom Penh to the sea, reducing transport costs and cutting out dependence on Vietnamese ports.
For years Sok Kouen has scraped by, selling sugarcane juice and recycling plastic containers to support her family. She’s lived in her small shack in Kandal province since 1980. But now there’s a new neighbour and life’s about to change irrevocably.
Right across the road is the new mega-canal project and it’s headed her way.
Soon the 57-year-old widow’s home will be torn down in the name of national development and she’s no idea what happens next.
“What worries me the most is having to move somewhere else. I want the government’s compensation to me to be an appropriate amount,” she says.
Prime Minister Hun Manet inaugurated the $1.7 billion project in August, with an ostentatious display of national pride.
But if Sok Kouen is losing out, she may not be alone.
That could all change.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.c...
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.c...

[@davinxi5926]

Ba Chúc massacre in April 1978 by the Cambodians. Never forget 🎗️

[@secretoftheworld]

😂😂😂you Vietnamese stole our land，don't pretend to be victim Chinese son😂

[@secretoftheworld]

Vietnam stole Cambodia land along side border，China son😂😂