The National Election Committee’s secretary-general and an education official in Pailin province both said Monday that Ministry of Finance inaction has left their workers without wages owed to them for months.
NEC Secretary-General Tep Nitha said that 2,000 employees who completed the updating of the national voter registry in October are owed a total of $150,000.
Tep Nitha said the 2,000 election workers were not budgeted for by the Ministry of Finance.
“We are facing a drought and the ministry is busy at the end of the year,” he said Monday.
He said that the Finance Ministry has promised to pay the NEC clerks, trainers and typists before the end of January.
Chhuon Narung, president of Pailin’s chapter of the Cambodian Independent Teacher’s Association, said that 300 teachers in Pailin are owed pay for the last 13 months. He said that while teachers received their base salaries for the period they did not receive bonuses for serving in rural areas—a $10 monthly bonus that nearly doubles the teachers’ pay.
“With only the salary it is not enough for the teachers to survive,” he said. The average wage for teachers nationwide is between $25 and $30 a month.
On Dec 29, teachers in Pailin engaged in a one-day strike protesting delays in payment of salary and delays in payment of bonuses.
Pailin Education Department accountant Duong Sopheap said the department owed the teachers bonuses but blamed the delay on the Ministry of Finance for not disbursing money promptly.
“I understand the teachers’ difficulties, but I do not know what to do since we do not have money,” she said, adding that the Ministry of Education had recently promised $3,750 to pay the teachers in February.
Ministry of Finance Undersecretary of State Ngy Tayi declined to comment Monday on why money has not been transferred to the NEC or the Ministry of Education to pay their workers.
