Gov’t holds drug abuse workshop
THE Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD)conducted a training course in collaboration with Plan International Cambodia on February 15 for a group of 27 national trainers on Prevention and Control of Accidents Caused by Illegal Drug Use.
The course was conducted at the Kampong Cham provincial education department to impart the knowledge and skills necessary for the participants to be able to provide training to others on this topic.
The training was presided over by NACD secretary-general Meas Vyrith and education ministry undersecretary of state Soeur Socheata.
Vyrith said the drug problem did not show any signs of slowing down despite the fact that opium poppy cultivation in the Golden Triangle region had decreased along with the production of other naturally sourced drugs. He said the production of synthetic drugs made from chemicals in laboratories was still on the rise.
“The opening of this training course today is in line with the strategies of the NACD, which calls on all ministries and institutions
to continue to train key personnel in order to strengthen work on raising awareness with the public so that they understand the need to stay away from drugs. Drugs can lead to disaster for themselves, their families and society,” he said.
Socheata told The Post on February 16 that the NACD and Plan International Cambodia had supported the education ministry by helping to produce textbooks for use in villages for teaching and learning about the dangers of drugs in both public and private educational institutions across the country.
She also noted that the education ministry had recently received assistance from China to set up an anti-drug research library to disseminate information on drugrelated hazards at the Samdech Techo Hun Sen Library in Phnom Penh and that this programme will be expanded to locations in eight additional provinces in the future.
Socheata said that for the safety of Cambodian society and to ensure children will avoid drugs, the education ministry is examining whether to seek support from development partners to prepare textbooks at the high school level on the Prevention and Control of Accidents Caused by Illegal Drug Use for distribution to all educational institutions.
She said the education ministry and NACD will conduct another course for national trainers in Kampong Speu in March on the same topic.
Yi Kim Than, deputy country director for Programmes of Plan International Cambodia, said there are many issues and concerns related to drugs in schools and their effects on students.
“We think this problem is due to a lack of awareness among children and students about the effects of drug use on their health, education and future prospects. Therefore, our organisation has discussed with the education ministry ways to contribute to reducing the number of students using drugs,” he said.
Kim Than said that for students to fully understand the effects of drug use, it is necessary to give special training to their teachers on the subject which is why the organisation published the Prevention and Control of Accidents Caused by Illegal Drug Use
THE Ministry of Public Works and Transport’s information technology team has been developing a new app to record all information related to traffic offences by drivers in the country.
The app is part of a plan to establish a scoring system for each driver where each recorded offence deducts from the driver’s score to determine the imposition of penalties, including the suspension of their driving licence for a period of six months to one year.
At the opening ceremony of the meeting to review the work results for 2020 and the work directions for 2021 on February 16, public works minister Sun Chanthol said the development of the new app system may be completed by June 2021.
He said once the app is finished it will be presented to Minister of Interior Sar Kheng for approval before it is officially launched.
Chanthol explained that this app will establish a score for each driver linked to their driving licence and deduct points from it for each driving offence.
“The law states that five years after this law is put in force there will be deduction of points for any kind of driving offence. For example, driving over the speed limit, not stopping at red traffic lights, driving in a drunken state, or driving without a seat belt, all of these would count as deductions,” he said.
Chanthol noted that the new app system will record the driving scores and tabulate deductions and once too many points have been lost across the 12 categories of offences tracked, then the offender will not be allowed to drive anymore.
He added that there will still be cash penalties for driving offences along with the deduction of points from the driver’s score and that some offences would cause the immediate suspension of the driver’s licence for a period of six months to one year as stated in the law.
According to Chanthol, if the app is given approval by Sar Kheng in July, they plan to start disseminating information about it to all drivers along with renewed efforts to educate the public about Cambodia’s laws on driving and public roads.
Chanthol said the establishment of this app and the point deduction system for traffic offenders will also make it easier for insurance companies to sell insurance packages in Cambodia with pricing and coverage that reflects the safety record of each driver. He said that in the near future there will be transfer of information of this nature between his ministry and insurance firms.
Road safety expert Kong Ratanak welcomed the modernisation efforts by the ministry and the creation of a system to track all public road users’ traffic offences.
“For me, modernisations such as this app will help to control bad behaviour by recording the mistakes of offending drivers and that is a good thing. In 2021 most people, including the authorities, use a smartphone so the [apps] could assist them in carrying out their duties,” he said.
Ratanak said the ministry has shown initiative by creating this app to simplify the process of tracking driving offences and that along with the requirement of a licence for all drivers in the country it would be an important step towards improving road safety.
However, he noted that the accuracy of the app system and the authorities’ implementation would be crucial in determining whether it is a success.