The construction of a project to build public housing for low and middle-income earners will start next month, according to the Minister of Urban Planning and Land Management Chea Sophara. The minister said an initial 2,400 units would be built, and would be restricted at first to low-income civil servants who are unable to build their own houses. The price of a home in the project would be between $20,000 and $25,000, and civil servants would be able to pay it off in about 20 years, he added. Sear Rithy, chairman of WorldBridge Land that has been contracted by the government to build the homes, said the project would be about 18 kilometers from the capital, and the houses would be sold only to couples with an income below $500 per month, to prevent high-income earners from buying units for speculative purposes. WorldBridge’s investment in the project was about $60mn to $70mn, he said in September. (Source: Khmer Times)