Pursat provincial governor Mao Thornin says as an official, he must prioritise people’s needs. Photo supplied
Pursat provincial governor Mao Thornin has committed two days per week to meet with citizens at the local provincial hall in order to solve their problems and disputes, saying that as an official he must prioritise the people’s needs.
Since his arrival in the province, he has asked the people in the province to consider him and his wife as part of their extended family.
Thornin told The Post on Monday that he plans to solve people’s issues using two mechanisms.
“The first is to solve issues in the way a family does and the other is by disseminating education, especially on legal issues, which people are not usually fully aware of,” he said.
He said he has solved disputes and problems using these two mechanisms successfully, which are inspired by the win-win policy introduced by Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Thornin said citizens are very happy to attend his problem-solving sessions, which include domestic and land disputes, divorce matters and others.
“We have already used these mechanisms, it is very effective. We follow the policy of our government, which means the official is the servant of the citizen, in compliance with the instructions of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
“Therefore, in order to serve the citizen well, we have to meet them. We, as leaders at the provincial level and in our families, have the obligation to serve the citizens. We carry out this work from the beginning to the end no matter what their requests,” he said.
Citizens, Thornin said, must always trust and believe in the provincial leadership, and they should come to the provincial hall if they have an issue.
He said while solving a case, if there were some issues that were not reasonable or if another party to a dispute is absent, he would escalate it to the district level.
“If the district-level intervention still doesn’t satisfy the citizens and they do not accept it, the district will report it to the provincial level. Then, I will prepare the mechanisms to solve the problem.
“I will go down to the commune where the problem originated and invite the people there that know the issue well to gather in a meeting at the commune hall to discuss a resolution,” Thornin said.
