More than three million visit monument

More than three million visit monument

Defence Minister General Tea Banh on Sunday said more than three million people have visited the Win-Win Monument since it was opened last December.

He noted the achievement during an event to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the Win-Win policy, which led to the end of the civil war, held at the monument in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva district.

Gen Banh said the government is proud that so many people had visited the monument in order to know about the efforts made to defeat the Khmer Rouge through the policy.

“We are so proud that one year since we launched the Win-Win Monument, more than three million people have visited it,” he noted. “This achievement is unexpected.”

Gen Banh told the thousands of spectators at the event that the Win-Win Monument is a symbol of peace for Cambodian people and will play a role in educating future generations on what the Kingdom had gone through to achieve peace.

“Today is the 21st anniversary of the end of the civil war in Cambodia, which enabled the Kingdom to achieve peace, stability, and economic growth,” he noted. “We will protect the peace and won’t allow any color revolution or other attempts to destroy the peace and stability that we struggled for.”

Last year, the government unveiled the Win-Win Monument to mark the 20th anniversary of the end of the civil war in the Kingdom. Work on building the 54-meter tall monument began in 2016 and the project cost more than $12 million.

The monument complex is located on an eight-hectare plot of land in the district’s Prek Tasek commune.

It is a symbol of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s victory over the Khmer Rouge through a win-win policy entailing a divide-and-conquer strategy that focused on survival, asset protection and maintaining hard-fought positions.

General Nem Sowath, director-general of the ministry’s general department of policy and foreign affairs, yesterday confirmed that a huge number of people had visited the monument.

“During the 365 days since its inauguration, 3.5 million people visited it. We also organized about 100 events at the site,” he noted. “The volume of visitors is unexpected.”

Gen Sowath noted that the reason that a lot of people came to visit the monument is that Cambodians were keen to learn how their leader managed to end the civil war.

“It shows that people like coming to visit this place to understand how the Kingdom achieved peace after the dark days of the civil war,” he said.

Gen Sowath also said the government planned to have a book to note down visitors’ comments about the monument.

He noted that the ministry will create a team of guides to inform visitors about the monument’s structure and its symbolism.

“Now we still lack guides to welcome visitors. Sometimes, we get four or five international and local delegations visiting the monument daily,” Gen Sowath noted. “We need a team of guides who are not only able to explain the strategies used in the Win-Win policy but also Cambodian culture and history.”

KHMER TIMES