Introduced in Phnom Penh under French colonialism, the cyclo, or
three-wheeled bicycle-propelled rickshaw, has been slowly disappearing from the
streets of Phnom Penh.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Hun Sen
called for efforts to preserve the iconic vehicle.
“I call for the conservation of
the cyclo because it is so interesting for tourists,” the Prime Minister said
at a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday morning.
This was good news for Ben
Thoeun, 34, who gives tourists cyclo tours of the Royal Palace and National
Museum.
“The cyclo can help poor people
earn a daily living,” he said.
Another cyclo driver, Boeun Be,
32, said that few Cambodian still use cyclos because they prefer motorbikes and
tuk-tuks, and, consequently, many drivers have abandoned their vehicles in
search of other work.
“The cyclo is not popular and
people don’t value it or its drivers’ job, so the cyclo will disappear in the
future,” he predicted.
Many of the cyclo drivers still
operating trace their continued existence to the two-year-old Cyclo
Conservation and Careers Association. “I can earn an average of $10 or more per
day when visitors who want to take cyclos contact the association and ride with
me,” said Be.
Im Sambath, president of CCCA,
said he was pleased by the Prime Minister’s call for cyclo preservation.
“Visitors like taking cyclos
because it is a strange form of transportation that they have never seen in
their own countries,” he said. “By taking cyclos, they help poor Cambodians.”
According to surveys by Sambath’s
organisation, the total number of cyclos in Cambodia dropped from 1,500 in 2008
to 700 today.
Many cyclo drivers are growing
old and retiring, Sambath said, while young people tend to choose other work,
in garment factories, for example. But, he added, some sons are picking up
cyclo driving from their fathers.
CCCA faces problems finding land
for a headquarters large and central enough to house its members, who tend to
be poor and from the provinces, Sambath said.
He hoped that the Prime
Minister’s statement would help put weight behind a request for land that CCCA
had sent the Municipality last year.
Kim Yuthana
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