The Ministry of Interior has urged the One Window Service and Complaint Coordination Unit in Oddar Meanchey province to address deficiencies in their administrative service provision. The ministry called for an end to the inactivity and missing elements currently affecting these services.

The instructions were detailed in a letter dated June 22, penned by ministry secretary of state Ngy Chanphal. This correspondence was later made public by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) on July 3.

In this letter, the ministry confirmed that a working group had been dispatched to evaluate the administrative services provided by the provincial unit.

The working group’s subsequent investigation highlighted instances of inactivity within the service provision. Upon these discoveries, the ministry issued instructions to the provincial administration, including a directive to cease issuing border passes outside of the One Window Service unit, instead consolidating this service within the unit itself.

“While the ministry is in the process of coordinating between IT management programmes and service provision at the unit, including systems for issuing border passes, it is crucial that the provincial administration instructs its officials to correctly record and input border pass data into the system,” the letter asserted.

The ministry further urged the provincial administration to prevent officials from informally handling paperwork on behalf of individuals, citing this as detrimental to government reform. The provincial administration was also instructed to assign a working group to evaluate procedural efficiency within the unit and the wider commune administration.

Additionally, the ministry sanctioned the provision of allowances from the service to office heads, deputy heads and staff, emphasising the need for this to be done regularly and correctly in line with established principles.

Oddar Meanchey deputy governor Dy Rado on July 3 acknowledged the ministry’s findings, noting that the provincial leadership had initiated talks to address the identified shortcomings.

“In conjunction with the province, we’ve seen improved task performance at the One Window Service Unit. Despite this progress, the provincial administration is committed to further enhancing services to better meet the needs of our citizens,” he said.