Report Conversation with Leaderships in Po Angkrang, Po Chamroen, and Tuol Ampel Communes in Basedth District, Kampong Speu Province
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2021
Venue: Cambodian People's Party Headquarters in Po Angkrang, Po Chamroen, and Tuol Ampel Communes in Basedth District, Kampong Speu Province
Presidency: Senior Minister His Excellency Ieng Mouly, member of the Cambodian People's Party Central Committee, Deputy Head of the Party Working Group assisting Kampong Speu Province and Head of the Working Group assisting Basedth District Cambodia, held conversation with the local leaderships to update party members, consolidate internal solidarity, and strengthen commune party members.
Participants: The event held at the three communes was participated by Excellencies, Lok Chumteavs, ladies, and gentlemen, the deputy heads and members of the Party Working Group assisting Basedth District; heads and deputy heads of the party working groups assisting the communes; president of the District Party, and presidents of the commune and village parties in a total number of roughly 180 attendees.
1. Opening remarks: His Excellency the Senior Minister welcomed and thanked the participating members. He then permitted the three commune party presidents to take turns presenting updated reports, especially the general situation in their respective villages. The key focus issues were: 1) commune council elections, 2) opposition parties containment, 3) measures to avert HIV transmission, and 4) measures to prevent drugs use. Moreover, he asked that occurring inactivity points, impediments, and requests be raised as well.
2. Report:
A) General situation in Po Angkrang commune:
• The commune has 19 villages, 4,257 families, and 3,131 party families equal to 73.54%.
• 18,649 population in total (9,406 women).
• 11,014 people on the NEC voter list (6,032 women).
• 12,279 people aged 18 up (6,557 women).
• 7,634 party members (62.17% of the population aged 18 up and 69.31% of the population registered on the NEC voter list).
• 784 local migrants and 3,459 workers.
• 148 overseas migrant workers advised to stay in quarantine.
• Public services, such as issuance of vital records and various documents, are provided to people in a timely fashion.
• The party working group pays visit regularly to villages and communes to strengthen party members and disseminate the Party’s policies.
• Various problems are addressed as much as possible for the local poor and vulnerable.
• The party organizational structure: 27 party committee members (two women), 11 commune councilors (two women), three assistants, 25 party branches, 63 party sub-branches, and 3,131 party groups.
• Commune/village development: there are 23 livestock farms.
B) General situation in Po Chamroen commune:
• The commune has 14 villages, 2,208 families, and 1,928 party families equal to 87.09%.
• 9,441 population in total (5,184 women).
• 5,532 people on the NEC voter list (2,992 women).
• 6,009 people aged 18 up (3,277 women).
• 4,660 party members (77.55% of the population aged 18 up and 84.24% of the population registered on the voter list).
• The party organizational structure: 21 party committee members (two women), seven commune councilors (two women), two assistants, 20 party branches, 42 party sub-branches, and 1,923 party groups.
C) General situation in Tuol Ampel commune:
• The commune has 15 villages, 3,202 families, and 2,311 party families equal to 72.17%.
• 12,327 population in total (6,553 women).
• 7,479 people on the NEC voter list (4,168 women).
• 8,305 people aged 18 up (4,464 women).
• 5,703 party members (68.66% of the population aged 18 up and 76.25% of the population registered on the voter list).
• The party organizational structure: 21 party committee members, seven commune councilors, two assistants, 19 party branches, 45 party sub-branches, and 2,311 party groups.
Challenges in the villages:
• Citizens have been hoodwinked into lending money with high interest returns.
• Two of chief borrowers have remained scot-free, failed to pay interests as agreed upon, and continued to build houses.
• Many complaints have been lodged, but the court has not yet taken any actions.
• Local and overseas migrant workers have continued to leave and come.
Suggestions:
• Authorities are requested to take legal action against the chief borrowers according to legal procedures as soon as possible.
• It is also requested that members of the party working group come to help Po Chamroen and Po Angkrang communes.
• His Excellency, the Head of the Party Working Group assisting Basedth District, is requested to seek justice and take speedy action in their favor.
3) Discussions:
His Excellency the Senior Minister accepted all suggestions from the village chiefs to consider and solve with the Working Group assisting Basedth District.
• Commune chiefs are asked to prepare reports on the chief borrowers promising high interest returns and submit them to His Excellency the Head of the Working Group assisting Basedth District.
• In the villages, there are many branches selling cosmetics and nutritional products. It is therefore requested that their activities be reviewed and monitored.
• His Excellency the Head concurred with the request for integrating the members of the party working groups assisting the two communes.
4) Resolutions (recommendations offered):
We have suspended our meeting temporarily due to COVID-19. Nonetheless, Excellencies, Lok Chumteavs, the working groups, and the commune authorities have carried on with their works, making progress and attaining development one after another. Hence, the working groups are commended for the works they carried out in the past.
We still do not know when the COVID-19 situation will subside. However, under Samdech Decho’s leadership, our country has been able to control the situation successfully thanks to the discipline of wearing facemasks, washing hands, and effectively observing the preventive measures. Local authorities have monitored, grasped, and conducted quarantine correctly. In 2022, we pin our hope that the situation will return to normal, but now we should continue the health measures (3 Protects and 3 Don’ts).
So long as COVID-19 is still in existence, we continue to experience economic problems, especially the tourism sector is still in difficulties. Therefore, we should be prepared to face economic impacts, on the condition that while the State does not reduce the budget, there should be thrift. Our country is still able to hold out. In 2020, exports and imports were around USD30 billion.
Along with this, His Excellency the Senior Minister also asked: At present, what are the progresses we have made? We have 44 metric tons of gold in reserve, and we hope that we will become a high-middle-income country in 2030 and a high-income country in 2050.
He stressed that the reason we have made progress is that there is peace. Without peace, we are unable to make either development or progress. Our policy is to strengthen peace.
He also sent out a message that at present, there are people still holding hope the National Rescue Party will come back to life. This is impossible, except they form a new party. Those responsible in the villages are asked to tell the people in waiting that it is unfeasible. We were accused of being communist, but since 1993, we have become multiparty. Cambodia is not a one-party country. However, since only one party has been elected, the people cannot be blamed. We conduct the election every five years because the Constitution requires the citizens to express their views. We intend to hold power, of course with the people’s support, to serve them and to consider them above all.
The purpose of today’s meeting is that we need to be cognizant of our party members management. How far has the update of the party members already gone? Is the number of the party members is already clearly verified against the NEC voter list.
Additionally, His Excellency the Senior Minister also offered advice to the members present at the meeting, saying, we should clearly grasp the party members and prepare from now on. We should also look at the composition of the commune councils to find out whether they are efficacious and whether adjustments need to be made. If the members who are too old and want to quit, their replacements should be found. Nevertheless, if the commune chiefs or commune councilors are still strong and supported by the people, they should be encouraged to carry on. In the next 14 months, we should be prepared to muster support from the people.
As regards AIDS, His Excellency the Senior Minister voiced concern over the recurrence of AIDS, especially among young people aged under 30 years old. At present, there are around 90,000 of them, some of whom are married. In order to take part in fighting against AIDS, he asked that a commune assign an assistant to work on AIDS issues. In addition, the communes should set up commune AIDS committee, with members from the Commission of Women and Children’s Affairs, health center, people good at propaganda, and people influential in the communes. Basedth District Hall will hold an event, inviting the communes to work in detail on this matter, and the cost incurred for this work is the cost for social services. The AIDS work that the localities should undertake is to check to see whether patients have received services, taken medication regularly, and obtained ID-Poor cards as well as whether their children have access to education.
It is a must for us to educate the youth about how to prevent infection by using condoms and having blood test if they are in doubt of having HIV transmission. When this mechanism is in place, we will talk with and ask the Ministry of Economy and Finance to provide us with financial assistance.
At the end, His Excellency the Senior Minister stated:
1) The year of 2022 is the year when our capacity is tested to see if we will further succeed. Therefore, please cooperate to achieve brilliant successes.
2) Attention should focus on activities conducted by other various political parties as well as activities carried out by groups of deceitful borrowers promising high interest returns and products sale networks and so forth.
3) In communes, the commune chiefs are master. Therefore, the clerks should speed up stamping documents and keep the stamps at the commune halls.
4) We, the Cambodian People's Party officials, should serve the people and provide them with good public services. From today onwards, we should work to drum up the people’s support. Should a commune chief is busy outside, absent from the commune hall, notice should be written on a blackboard as information or telephone number given to help facilitate the citizens coming to seek services.
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