PHNOM PENH: At the opening of a new wastewater treatment plant, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet took the opportunity to remind Cambodians of the long years of suffering they endured and how the scars of that time remain.

He claimed that Cambodia has suffered 500 years of war and that the Kingdom had only reached peace under the reign of his father, former Prime Minister Hun Sen.

During his speech at the Choeung Ek Wastewater Treatment Plant on December 27, the PM said that the site was a cemetery over 40 years ago during the Khmer Rouge regime. He said that the pain of that time remains with Cambodians and promised it would never happen again.

He said that the troubles began with the 1970 coup that removed the King, which paved the way for the Khmer Rouge victory in 1975.

He reminded the crowd that Cambodia’s development is only thanks to the peace established when his father took total control in 1998 and employed his Win-Win policy, which allowed Khmer Rouge defectors to peacefully join the government. He stressed that this peace must be maintained.