In Shell of a City, Locals Pick Through a Spiritless Recovery for Work

 VOD, Dec. 7, 2020

SIHANOUKVILLE — A tuk-tuk driver picks styrofoam, coconut shells and used masks from a dried patch of grass behind Independence Beach. The area used to be full of vendors, selling to a sea of tourists, but both are mostly gone.

“I love the environment. I do this almost every day,” the tuk-tuk driver says. “I have the free time to help.”

It’s a difficult time for people because of Covid-19 and the changes that churn through Sihanoukville, the tuk-tuk driver says.

The Cambodian workers left in the city are attempting to unearth some work again after the double punch of an online gambling ban and the pandemic-driven recession slowed Cambodia’s boomtown to a near halt. The recovery may not be as quick as its rise, as citizens say life in the city is more difficult than before.

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In December, Sihanoukville appears stripped to its components: Bright blue sky streaks through the metal and concrete frames of half-built, abandoned skyscrapers, and scraggly trees and grasses take hold of empty lots marked by for-sale signs.

The stilled construction projects have started showing their age. But the opalescent sidewalks gleam. Sihanoukville is close to completing a road and sidewalk renovation project, a $300-million city project that uprooted old-growth trees but employed some construction workers during the brunt of Covid-19 closures.

In full: https://vodenglish.news/in-shell-of-a-city-locals-pick-through-a-spiritless-recovery-for-work/