Prime Minister Hun Sen on April 18 ordered the National Military Police and authorities in the capital and three provinces to strictly control and monitor the movement of people via waterways and ensure compliance with the inter-provincial travel ban.
The prime minister issued the order in a voice message addressed to the municipal governor and the provincial governors of Kandal, Prey Veng and Kampong Cham.
He said: "Your Excellencies Khuong Sreng, Kong Sophorn, Chea Somethy and Un Chanda, keep tabs on the people. If we aren’t allowing them to travel by land, they could try and travel by water on fishing boats, please keep an eye on the matter.”
He also ordered National Police chief Neth Savoeun and National Military Police commander Sao Sokha to work together to prevent travel ban violations.
Kampong Cham’s Chanda told The Post on April 19 that after receiving the new order, authorities deployed additional forces to target areas to control and monitor all traffic on waterways.
"Of course, after receiving the order, we must take more administrative measures against individuals who violate the ban. But apparently at this time, we have not seen anyone dare to cross transboundary waterways into the territory of Kampong Cham province.
“The situation now is calm and our forces are on standby at all target sites so that people don’t dare to violate this ban," he said.
According to Chanda, people are allowed to fish normally along the rivers so long as they carry ID and adhere to social distancing rules, with no more than two per boat.
