Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that Cambodia will no longer host the 2023 Southeast Asian Games because of budgetary constraints imposed upon the government by ambitious infrastructure projects. In the groundbreaking ceremony of a bridge across the Tonle Sap River in Phnom Penh yesterday, Mr Hun Sen said the government decided to focus on infrastructure projects rather than hosting the games.

 

“The government is trying to save money,” he said. “I do not want to host the SEA Games. “If we want to host the SEA Games, we have to spend millions to make venues for the sports and for athletes to stay, and we’d rather put that money toward building more bridges and roads.”

 

Mr Hun Sen added that the country was in dire need of better roads and more bridges to make travel easier for its citizens. “We do not yet have enough,” he said. “For me, I would like to see bridges crossing the rivers every three kilometres to ease traffic congestion.”

 

read more http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087389/hosting-2023-sea-games-ruled/

 

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Maybe they could restrict traffic in PP instead.

 

They wouldn't need to build new venues for the athletes to stay. Just put them in hotels like Malaysia just did.

More countries should put improvement of their infrastructure ahead time limited international games. Brazil comes to mind first.