Kep authorities said a plan to construct a 7km road along the provincial coast will be completed by the end of the year and help attract more tourists to the area.

Provincial governor Ken Satha said at a press conference at the Council of Ministers on Tuesday that the province is constructing the road along the beach which links to other provinces and will eventually stretch from Thailand to Vietnam.

He said the beach road in the province will be completed this year using the government budget. As of now, 40 per cent had been completed and he expects the province would get financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to complete the rest.

“This road has started with the construction of a cement base. We will cooperate with ADB and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport on the project and continue to the Prek Chak border crossing in Kampot province,” Satha said.

He said the road construction was initiated by Prime Minister Hun Sen. The road runs along the beach and is 18m wide. It will stretch from Prek Chak to the border of Vietnam.

“This is a strategy to attract tourists to the beach. The road is linked to other coastal provinces until it reaches the southern part of Thailand,” he said, adding that he expects tourists would also come to the province from Preah Sihanoukville via water transportation.

Kep Department of Public Works and Transport director Mam Touch told The Post on Tuesday that the total length of the coastal road in Kep is 14km. He said the 7km mentioned is for local commuters.

“It is the first road in the province to stretch from Rabbit Island to Kon Beach,” Touch said. However, he said he was unaware of the cost to build it.