Minister of Interior Sar Kheng’s Facebook team has resolved 18 of the 73 complaints and suggestions raised by the public in July. The team had received requests and complaints from 73 accounts.
The minister said his team would strive to address the remaining issues in a timely manner.
“Certain cases require time and require that we follow procedures,” he said.
Chea Sokunthea, the minister’s Facebook team leader, told The Post that his team tried to be diligent about responding quickly to comments and requests made by people via the popular social media platform.
“Since the team was set up in July 2020 to resolve people’s problems and requests, the team has been working on them full-time on a regular basis without interruption.
“In cases involving local land disputes, we have asked permission from the minister to transfer those disputes to local authorities for resolution,” he said.
Sokunthea added that the most challenging problems for the team were all related to land disputes as the Facebook team did not have the resources, background or local knowledge to adjudicate them productively.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of rights group Licadho, applauded the team’s work, saying that solving problems this way can help people without requiring that they spend a lot of time and money travelling to file complaints or attend meetings for a solution. They could also raise instances of problematic inaction by local officials to the national leadership this way.
“The team has been resolving and responding to some of the complaints and requests of some of the people, but major issues such as the land disputes in many provinces and the capital do sensibly require local knowledge and expertise to handle,” he said.
In the first six months of this year, 665 Facebook users have attempted to bring matters to Sar Kheng’s attention through their public Facebook comments. However, only 424 of the cases were given further review and just 259 of those have been successfully resolved.
