From his home in Prek Takeo on the banks of the Mekong river, an hour’s drive from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Mao Sarin can watch ships laden with containers chug by on their method to Vietnam and the river’s large delta.
If the federal government of newly put in Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet follows by means of on plans, future shipments might journey alongside a $1.7bn, Chinese language-funded canal — a venture that will get rid of Mao Sarin’s tin-roofed dwelling. The Funan Techo canal would immediately join Phnom Penh with Cambodian ports alongside the Gulf of Thailand, bypassing Vietnam’s conventional maintain on the mouth of certainly one of Asia’s largest waterways.
“I’ve seen the event staff come right here to take measurements virtually 20 instances,” stated Mao Sarin, a motorcycle-taxi driver and former soldier who has lived beside the river for greater than three many years. “We’re ready in suspense.”
In full: https://www.ft.com/content material/e36accdc-ead7-4c1e-b743-faa3c17f9f60