Provincial and local governments

Two newly elected opposition commune chiefs in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville are struggling to dislodge their Cambodian People’s Party predecessors following their recent swearing in to office. ...

Cambodia’s newly elected commune councilors and chiefs began taking office on Monday with vows to make good on election promises by improving local services and keeping in closer contact with constituents. ...

The process of swearing in commune councillors across the country began yesterday, marking the start of their five-year terms in local administration, with opposition commune chiefs saying they were undeterred by Interior Minister Sar Kheng’s comments last week. ...

CPP-appointed village chiefs will remain in their positions despite changes to commune control following recent polls, the Interior Minister has said. Sar Kheng made the comments as he presided over the ceremony to appoint new Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng at City Hall on Wednesday. ...

The Interior Minister yesterday urged two new provincial governors to continue the battle against drug trafficking, on the heels of its “successful” national anti-drugs campaign. ...

Defence Minister Tea Banh’s son has been appointed a deputy governor of Siem Reap province by Prime Minister Hun Sen. Major General Tea Seiha said he had not been told about the appointment officially so could not give a date for when he would take up ...

The government has tapped two officials to become new deputy governors in Phnom Penh, including former Pursat Provincial Deputy Governor Keut Che, and Nuon Pharath, a staffer at the Council of Ministers with close ties to the youth organisation led by the premier’s youngest son. ...

Four officials have been elevated to become governors of three provinces and Phnom Penh, including controversial Deputy Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng, who will take over leadership of the capital from retiring current Governor Pa Socheatvong. ...

A CNRP supporter in Battambang province’s Anlong Lvea village was detained and questioned yesterday for illegally signing official documents meant only for the village chief. ...

In what one observer said was simply an act of politicking, the opposition CNRP on Thursday said it would push its campaign pledge of giving $500,000 to every commune in the National Assembly. ...

Opposition spokesman Yim Sovann said yesterday that if any of the CNRP’s more than 400 new commune chiefs who won office on Sunday cannot follow through on the party’s campaign pledges, they will “give up” their positions.Sovann said the Cambodia National Rescue Party had made ...

It’s been almost a year since families in Khaob village have had a road connecting their homes to the outside world. New construction has blocked the old village road, and villagers say they are “very angry” after complaints to the local authority, controlled by the ...

Speaking on Monday, Dr Touch pointed to an opposition CNRP policy of eliminating the Ministry of Rural Development and offering $500,000 dollars to commune chiefs to develop their local areas through projects such as road and bridge building. “We need commune chiefs who have studied to ...

After two years and seven months of construction, a new complex housing 26 provincial departments in Siem Reap was officially inaugurated on land that once belonged to the Apsara Authority. ...

The government should increase the annual budget of communes by $100,000 to increase the quality of life for ordinary Cambodians, an analyst has told VOA Khmer. ...

For the ruling CPP, the promise was to appoint a woman as governor for one of the country’s 25 provinces. For the opposition CNRP, its boast was having 60 female commune chief candidates—up from fewer than 10—to run in Cambodia’s 1,646 communes for this year’s ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday ordered the Interior Ministry to place women as deputy governors in 25 cities and provinces as well as to increase the role of women in the army, military police and National Police in an effort to promote gender equality. ...

Two City Hall officials were on Wednesday arrested on corruption charges after evidence was uncovered leading to allegations that they had misappropriated public funds. ...

The government will recruit more than 12,000 civil servants and teachers and an additional 20,000 service contractors for 2017, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Public Function. ...

The Interior Ministry says it will create six more one-window service offices in five provinces to speed up delivery of public services and eliminate unofficial fees. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday announced the creation of a sub-national administrative office to collect complaints from concerned citizens and forward them to the appropriate institutions. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng yesterday chastised the Rattanakiri provincial governor for lying to three ministers by claiming he was in a meeting with Mr. Kheng to avoid the trio. Mr. Kheng said governor Thorng Savun used his name to avoid meeting Environment Minster Say Samal, Land ...

The Immigration Department at the Interior Ministry has put in a request to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor to conduct a preliminary investigation into a commune chief who allegedly forged a birth certificate for a Chinese national in exchange for $12,000. ...

Public Works and Transport Minister Sun Chanthol announced the creation of four new departments within his ministry yesterday during a road renovation ceremony in Preah Sihanouk province. Transport Ministry spokesman Va Sim Sorya confirmed the changes to Khmer Times yesterday and said they were done to ...