Prime Minister of Cambodia, Samdech Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, on his social media networks this morning reacted against the comments of an exiled politician over the Funan Techo Canal project. 'Is this veteran politician a fool or he knows but pretends to be stupid! The whole Cambodian people have understood the benefits to the Cambodian economy and society that the Funan Techo Canal project will provide,' he wrote. But, Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet added, Mr. Sam Rainsy, a veteran politician who always poses as a patriot, does not have the ability to see or recognise what is good for the Cambodian people. 'Is he (Mr. Sam Rainsy) really a fool or a wise, but foolish man? [Is he] a kind of person who opposes just to oppose. [He] opposes without picking neither time nor subject. [He] opposes even the achievements for his own Cambodian nation and people,' the Premier said. 'Even the geography related to the provinces to which this project will be connected, he did not mention right … Oh, my goodness,' he und erlined. Yesterday, Mr. Sam Rainsy commented that the canal connecting Phnom Penh and the Gulf of Thailand would seriously harm the environment and people's livelihoods. He claimed that the canal is a strategic project of China which is seeking to secure access to the Gulf of Thailand through Cambodia and Laos under its influence. Funan Techo Canal project is the first historic project in Cambodia's waterway transport sector to connect the Mekong River system and the sea. According to the project's feasibility study, the US$1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal project, which will be broken ground for construction at the end of 2024, is 180 kilometres long and 100 metres wide upstream and 80 metres downstream with two navigation lanes. The construction would take around four years to complete and cost some US$1.7 billion. The canal will link Prek Takeo of Mekong River to the sea in Kep province crossing four provinces: Kandal, Takeo, Kampot and Kep with a total of 1.6 million people living on either side of the w aterway. Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse