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Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (front) lights a candle during a ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Feb. 20, 2013. Cambodia held a traditional ceremony on Wednesday to begin the construction of a commemorative copper statue of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk near the capital's Independence Monument. (Xinhua/Phearum).
Cambodia held a traditional ceremony on Wednesday to begin the construction of a commemorative copper statue of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk near the capital's Independence Monument.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Hun Sen and other senior officials.
The seven-meter tall statue, being built in a public park just east of the Independence Monument, will depict the King Father wearing a dark business suit.
The larger-than-life statue will be erected under a stupa with a 27-meter-high roof.
The design for the statue has been agreed to by King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath, Kep Chuktema, Governor of Phnom Penh Municipality, said after the ceremony.
"The whole construction of the statue will cost about 1.1 million U.S. dollars," he told reporters, adding that just the statue alone will cost 400,000 U.S. dollars.
He said that a locally well-known Seila Construction Group, headed up by former director of the National Museum and current Ministry of Culture official Hab Touch, was responsible for the project, which was expected to be completed before the first anniversary of the King Father's death.
Hun Sen said nothing during the ceremony. But he publicly said on Nov. 26 that the statue would be built for Cambodian people and foreign guests to pay homage.
Sihanouk died of illness at the age of 90 in Beijing on Oct. 15 last year and his body was cremated on Feb. 4 after lying in state for more than three months at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
