Phase one of Phnom Penh National Park expected to be completed next month

Phnom Penh National Park will consist of 75 hectares of Boeng Tamouk Lake. KT/Pann Rachana

Phase one of Phnom Penh National Park is expected to be completed next month. The park of about 75 hectares is located on the outskirts of the capital at Boeng Tamouk in Prek Pnov district.

Khuong Sreng, Phnom Penh governor, said yesterday that the large national park is an initiative to create a green lung in the capital.

He said that the Prime Minister, Phnom Penh City Hall and the Ministries of Economy and Interior worked together to promote “the beauty and green space in Phnom Penh – the heart of the country for the next generation,” Sreng told Khmer Times.

“It is also to attract both national and foreign visitors,” he added.

Sreng said that the construction started in early 2019 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023, but due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the process did not go according to plan.

“When we had to deal with the spread of COVID-19, we continued step by step according to the actual budget we had,” he said.

He said that now the City Hall is working the first phase of the park, involving 20 hectares, with just one month left to complete.

Sreng said the City Hall will start planting trees on the sidewalks to provide shade for athletes to run marathons or races or other sports activities.

The second phase is the transplantation of 100,000 saplings from a forest to the park.

Sreng said that Phnom Penh National Park will have a variety of trees and will also have a swimming pool, a recreation area, shops, restaurants and an amusement park for people to relax.

He emphasised that the trees include Thnong, Neang Nuon, rosewoods, Kokoh, Beng and Rokar Dek which are luxury and rare trees in order to preserve them and show the younger generation about their value and importance.

“With the planting of these trees, we will call for the participation of the masses and for the people to take care of them all through Saturday or Sunday, they can go to water the trees,” he said.

Sreng called on the people and government officials to love the trees as much as they love their own children. He asked for everyone to participate in planting and maintaining good trees and increase the green lung to maintain the environment for human and animal life on the planet to be sustainable and beautiful in all seasons. Khmer Times