Cambodian terminates private firm's license to collecting tolls on key highway

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday revoked a contract granted to private company AZ Distribution to collect tolls on the National Road 4.

"AZ Distribution must stop collecting maintenance and repair tolls on the National Road 4 from 12:00 midnight of Jan. 13, 2016 onwards," he said.

The government granted a license to AZ Distribution to collect toll fees along the 230 km road in 2001.

The license was scrapped after people living along the thoroughfare and travellers on the road complained about their difficulties in paying toll fees for using it.

"Your concerns and distress are mine," the prime minister wrote on his official Facebook page on Wednesday. "The Royal Government decided to take back and manage the National Road 4 from now on. People living along the road and those travelling on this road will not pay anymore for using it."

National Road 4 is a key economic road, connecting the capital of Phnom Penh to southwestern Preah Sihanouk province, where the kingdom's largest seaport is located.