Four ministries will look into the manufacturing and tourism sectors to strengthen the effectiveness of work, transparency and accountability. Heng Chivoan
Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Pheaktra has announced that four ministries have issued two separate inter-ministerial prakas to create a joint inspection group to look into the manufacturing and tourism sectors to strengthen the effectiveness of work, transparency and accountability.
The prakas on an inter-ministerial inspection group for the manufacturing sector dated February 27 said it was signed by the ministers of Labour and Vocational Training; Environment, and Industry and Handicraft.
It said the group aims to inspect the practices of the enterprises and establishments and the regulations and standard letters relating to the sector.
The other prakas on the formation of an inter-ministerial inspection group for the tourism sector dated the same day was co-signed by the ministers of Labour and Vocational Training; Environment, and Tourism.
The prakas said this working group would also aim to conduct joint inspections to check practices of enterprises, establishments and the regulations and standard letters relating to the labour, tourism and environment sectors.
“Employers of enterprises and establishments that are within the jurisdiction of law enforcement relating to those sectors will have to adhere to the formalities and comply with working conditions as dictated by law.
“They will have to make it possible for inter-ministerial inspection groups to conduct inspections,” the two prakas read.
Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training spokesman Heng Sour told The Post on Sunday that issuing the two prakas served to comply with the spirit of the 18th government-private sector forum held on March 29 last year.
At the forum, Prime Minister Hun Sen laid out a 15-point strategy to carry out reforms aimed at facilitating business, strengthening competitiveness and driving the economic diversification of Cambodia.
“Inter-ministerial groups will facilitate the private sector as each inspection group will go down together and oversee all objectives,” he said.
Sour said the formation of the joint inspection groups didn’t mean that the existing groups in provinces were to be disbanded. It meant that the exiting groups would come to collaborate with the inter-ministerial inspection groups when carrying out annual inspections.
Pheaktra told The Post on Sunday that the integration of the internal units of each ministry into the same inter-ministerial inspection group was necessary to carry out deep reforms within the relevant ministries to strengthen the effectiveness of work, transparency and accountability.
He said from April this year, upon inspecting any enterprise, the three ministers would go down together. “This integration will improve efficiency in inspections,” he said.
Vorn Nay, the owner of a bottled water facility along National Road 3, told The Post on Sunday that working together to carry out inspections was good for enterprises like his.
He said that by dealing with a joint inspection team, he didn’t have to allocate time for separate inspection schedules which sometimes were for similar reasons.
“I am just a small businessman. But officials have often come one by one to inspect our facility. Environmental officials and those of the Ministry of Interior arrived at our location for inspections at different times causing inconvenience,” he said.
