Khem Monykosal at the Pailin Provincial Hall in May of this year. FACEBOOK
The Ministry of Civil Service has set up an inter-ministerial working group to investigate the dismissal earlier this year of former Pailin provincial health official Khem Monykosal, a move that he publicly disputed.
Monykosal was sacked over a Facebook post he made concerning negligence he claimed to have encountered while on duty at a Covid-19 quarantine centre in Pailin in March.
He petitioned the ministry to have his employment as a health official reinstated after provincial governor Ban Sreymom stood by her initial decision to dismiss him while accusing him of further misconduct.
The establishment of the working group followed complaints filed by Monykosal regarding the decision made by the provincial committee for dispute resolution to uphold his dismissal in its ruling.
In a letter signed by civil service minister Prum Sokha on December 23, the working group investigating the dismissal is assigned 17 members from the health, interior and civil service ministries.
The letter states that the inter-ministerial working group will be responsible for investigating Monykosal’s complaints and issuing a report on their findings regarding his conduct and that of the provincial administration, its health department and other related units.
“The inter-ministerial working group also has the right to invite the provincial administration and relevant officials from the whole of Pailin province to meet with them and provide testimony to clarify [these matters],” the letter said.
Monykosal said he considered his dismissal in the midst of a pandemic for trivial reasons detrimental to the morale of the other civil servants on duty and that it would only discourage them from telling the truth when they see misconduct at work, which he said would hinder progress towards providing better services to the people.
“I have been protesting this situation for a long time and now finally they are going to do something about it, though it’s strange that it took them so long. Better late than never, however, and it will be a good thing for me if I get some sort of resolution to this matter.
“I do not know if the settlement process will go smoothly for me or not but what I want is a settlement that is in accordance with the law,” he told The Post on December 26.
Un Bunly, head of administration at the provincial hall, told The Post on December 26 that it is now up to the national-level working group to look into the matter and decide if some other solution or decision in the case was warranted and that it was Monykosal’s right to file a complaint in the matter though the Pailin administration disagrees with his version of events.
“He has the right to complain to the civil service ministry if he is not satisfied with our committee’s decision, but generally speaking he wasn’t dismissed just for a one-time mistake. There was a long history of incidents at work that validated the decision to dismiss him, but beyond that I have nothing more to add,” he said.
