… Today I have a great pleasure to join with our people and monks for the inauguration of a Buddhist temple in the Prasadvoddey pagoda and it is the third time that the temple is inaugurated, after the first one was done in 1904, the second time was in 1967 or three years before war broke out. After the liberation in 1979, step by step our people and monks have made efforts in rebuilding the pagoda and today we are inaugurating its temple (or ceremonious hall). I would like to express my sincere appreciation and thanks to our people and pagoda committee for the efforts they made and for the generous offer for me to come and inaugurate the temple.
… I am also grateful to our people for all the achievements in the Srey Santhor district. We have built a Bailey bridge over the Takoch canal and this name is a duplicate with another Bailey bridge in Rokar Khnor of Kroach Chhmar district, also in Kompong Cham province. That is why I say we have the Takoch Senior and Takoch Junior. The Takoch Junior Bailey bridge is in the district of Kang Meas. My helicopter came by the Takoch Junior Bridge the other day and HE Kong Ieng said the flooring of the bridge has been completed and the construction of either end of the bridge is underway. In Srey Santhor I have my 0.5 meter water pump number 30, 31, 32 and 35. On my way here I flew over a place that I used to travel by motorcycle in 1989 from Prek Tameak to Srey Santhor via the village of Sanlong in the district of Khsach Kandal. We will have a national road 8 built in the district.
… Maybe I should take this time to make a remark on the fact that Cambodia has been the only country in Asia that is not affected by SARS. There has been a widespread of SARS in Asia and Cambodia has been the only country that the SARS case has not been reported. Though SARS does not seem to be present in Cambodia, we also have to take necessary measures in preventing this disease from coming into Cambodia. In countries where SARS has been reported, people are wearing masks but Cambodia has not come to this stage yet. I wish to pray to Devada of old and new years to ward off the disease from Cambodia and from the world. It is quite annoying in the past years as we just had this problem of mad-cow disease in Britain and France, disease caused by chicken in Hong Kong, followed by mad-pig disease in Malaysia. They have been like natural disasters. Cambodia has been hot quite a bit but we also have more advanced rains this year and in some place our people have already sowed their rice seeds.
… With regards to the request made by our people in the commune of Prek Dambok of Srey Santhordistrict for solar energized lights, school buildings and two rural roads, I would like to make an impression as follows. I would leave these requests to three or four months from now before I decided because these requests have been promised by some politicians already. I would not dare intervene on their works or cut the grass under their feet at all. As they have promised to do for our people in Prek Dambok already, I would leave them to them because they promised to build asphalted road while I could build with laterite only, and to build a concrete bridge between the villages of Ampil and Takor, while all I could do now is to build a Bailey bridge. Let me be clear at this point that I leave the time for those who promise our people the above achievements till July 30, 2003. If they do not fulfil their promises, I will come and build for our people. But it depends on our people if they would like me to build them these infrastructural facilities or not.
Samdech Hun Sen on that occasion offers Riel 20 million for the Prasadvoddey pagoda, a school building with five classrooms to the Primary School of Phteah Kandal, a school building with five classrooms to the Primary School of Khyaok, eleven bulbs of solar energized lighting for the bridge at Svay Sach Phnom, 70 tons of rice for labour for the renovation of road between Moan Dob and the border with Khsach Kandal distict, an electric generator for the pagoda of Pothivoan, and ten million Riel for the construction of the eating hall.
EndItem