Official replaced after complaints
MINISTER of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction Chea Sophara issued a prakas transferring Kampot provincial department director Yin Vuthy to the ministry, following residents’ complaints of poor performance.
The prakas issued on Monday referred to a directive from the Kampot provincial administration on December 11 and an order from the ministry itself.
“Yin Vuthy, the director of the Department of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction in Kampot province, will from here on be working at the ministry. Danh Sary will be appointed [as director] to replace Yin Vuthy,” the prakas said.
The newly appointed Sary was the provincial department’s deputy director.
Vuthy, ministry spokesman Seng Lot and Kampot provincial governor Cheav Tay could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, social media celebrity Lieutenant Colonel Pheng Vannak on Wednesday wrote a series of posts claiming the change in appointment was made after residents left complaints on Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Facebook page on
December 10 complaining of the slow issuance of land titles under Vuthy’s leadership.
He cited a resident, Svay Sat, from Kampong Trach district’s Kampong Trach Kang Koeut commune, who requested the legal title to his 294sqm land, but failed to obtain it even after several years.
“Provincial, district and commune authorities have failed to act on the problems of the residents. They left problems unsolved for years.
When residents could no longer bear their slowness, they wrote complaints on the Facebook page of Samdech Techo Hun Sen.
“The officials rushed to process the titles for the residents and then posted their work on social media to take credit. If residents had not written complaints on Samdech’s Facebook page, the officials would not have bothered,” said Vannak.
He said after the complaints were made, Tay led a meeting to advance the land title process at the residents’ behest.
Rights group Adhoc provincial coordinator Yun Phally said the provision of services from the ministry’s provincial department had not been exemplary.
“In the past, residents had complained about land measurement and the issuance of land titles. Provision of other services also seemed slow. Their performance had previously drawn criticism from the residents,” he said.