The third phase of a project designed to revamp Phnom Penh’s drainage system, currently inundated by seasonal rains, began yesterday.

Four areas of the city spanning a total of 369,445 metres will be witness to the next stage of the project’s implementation, part of an ongoing $350 million drainage system project spearheaded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Preliminary planning for the third stage began in 2012 and is slated for completion in 2015.

The latest construction dovetails with a city-wide campaign to clear garbage-filled pipes, launched last Saturday.

JICA has been working with City Hall since 1999 to improve the capital’s drainage system.

The initial two phases of the project’s implementation took nearly a decade to complete and cost more than $19 million.

The third instalment of the project will expand and repair drainage in four areas: 60,789 metres around Tuol Sleng; 19,058 metres around O’Russey; 162,871 in Boeung Keng Kang and 126,727 metres around Tuol Tumpong, Sam Piseth, director of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said.

All four areas in Chamkarmon, Daun Penh and Prampi Makara districts will be receiving “new draining and [new pipes] to ease flooding in the southern area of the city,” Sam said, adding that JICA is contributing four additional trucks to aid with drainage cleanup, repairs and technical support.

Last Friday at the project’s ceremonial launch, Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Pa Socheatvong asked local residents to be tolerant of traffic jams and other construction-related disturbances for the sake of the city’s betterment.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AMELIA WOODSIDE