A lorry which attempted to secretly transport 48 workers, 17 of whom were women, in violation of travels between provinces was nabbed on Tuesday. Preah Sihanouk provincial administration
A lorry which attempted to secretly transport 48 workers, 17 of whom were women, in violation of travels between provinces was nabbed on Tuesday.
The incident occurred at the Srei Ambil Roundabout on National Road 48, in Chamkar Luong commune’s Chamkar Luong village, Kampong Seila district, Preah Sihanouk province.
The workers were meant to be transported from Kampong Speu province’s Baset district to Koh Kong province, which would have violated the government’s travel ban effective from last Thursday to midnight on Thursday.
Despite the travel ban, a National Police official said on Tuesday that 9,747 people had crossed various provinces while it has been in effect.
Preah Sihanouk provincial Military Police and Border Military Unit 402 collaborated with the Kampong Seila district Unified Command Committee to locate and stop the lorry.
According to a police report, officials reprimanded the passengers and allowed them to return to their homes.
Preah Sihanouk provincial hall spokesman Kheang Phearum said on Tuesday that his province had followed government orders.
Police forces were stationed at three provincial border checkpoints – Kampong Speu, Koh Kong and Kampot.
“At each destination, we have strictly followed the government’s order. Vehicles transporting goods, civil servants on missions, ambulances, fire engines, rubbish trucks and worker transport vans were exempt from the order because they had to carry out daily work.
“But in the case of drivers secretly transporting workers, we instructed them to return to their destinations. We won’t allow them to cross provinces until April 16, when the ban is scheduled to be lifted,” he said.
Ministry of Interior secretary of state and vice-president for the implementation of the government’s order on cross-provincial restrictions, Sok Phal, said on Tuesday: “On April 10, the first day of the travel ban, some citizens left Phnom Penh for many different provinces. On Tuesday, many people left [the capital].”
Citizens were able to conceal themselves among workers travelling to different provinces for work-related duties, which is allowed under the ban, he said.
“But when we caught factory workers leaving for provinces, we stopped them and allowed them to return to the capital. We don’t prohibit people who travel to different provinces and come back in the evening,” Phal said.
He said most people entering the capital were staff, businesspeople and construction builders. They had travelled from Kandal province to carry out their daily work.
Last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen imposed a weeklong provincial travel ban from midnight last Thursday to halt the spread of Covid-19. He emphasised that the order was given to prevent the disease from spreading to communities in the country.
