| By Rosli Abidin
Yahya
In less than three weeks, prime
ministers and presidents from across Asia will arrive in Phnom
Penh, Cambodia to attend one of the biggest international events
ever in Cambodia - the Great Mekong Subregion (GMS) and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit meetings.
More than 1,000 foreign
delegates and officials will attend the two summits scheduled
for November 3 to 5.
The Asean Summit will be the
first to be hosted by Cambodia, a nation which only joined the
regional grouping in 1999. Asean nations include Brunei
Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
In the run-up to the summits,
the Cambodian government has made many efforts to improve the
shape of the capital, from paving the main streets to taking
more security measures to guarantee the success of the meetings,
Cambodian newspapers reported.
The daily papers reported that
the Pochentong International Airport in Phnom Penh has taken on
a new look after renovation work in accordance with
international standards. The hardship in finding a vacant
parking space at the airport would no longer be a problem with
the newly constructed 26,126 sq metres parking lot.
In addition, the Cambodian
government has allocated US$12 million to upgrade 31 major road
arteries to ease congestion, of which 21 have already been
upgraded.
Six modern traffic lights worth
US$3 million have been set-up at the Mao Tse Tung Boulevard,
which will help cut down congestion on the road which runs pass
the city's largest hotel, the Inter-Continental.
Several prohibitions will also
come to effect. This includes the hanging of clothes to dry in
front of doors facing the streets, littering and riding
motorcycles without shirts - a common and natural practise by
Cambodians.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor
Namhong has assured that complete security will be guaranteed
during the summits, though he also did admit that the task of
organising the summits was a burden to the government.
An anti-terrorism team from the
elite 911 Para-Commando Unit has been instructed to provide
security at Pochentong International Airport during the summits.
Hundreds of municipal and
military police officers have been deployed since last week to
crack down on illegal weapons and to remove street-side food
stalls from prominent locations during the high-level meetings.
At least 10 handguns were confiscated by the police during a
two-day operation, reported the local newspapers.
Checkpoints have been set up at
random areas and would be carried out until the end of the
summits. Punitive measures will also be taken against police
officers who are caught with unauthorised firearms and their
guns will be confiscated, according to Judicial Police Chief
Heng Pov.
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