Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday warned government officials that their salaries could be in jeopardy if they don’t curtail their use of electricity.

Speaking to several hundred government officials at the inauguration of the new office of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Phnom Penh yesterday, the premier warned that they could face dire consequences for excessive electricity use.

“Starting today, if individual government ministries have electricity costs, such as those from air-conditioning, higher than the target in their budget expenditure, the minister, secretary of state and undersecretary of state will face a three-month salary cut,” Hun Sen said.

He added that if individual government officials were not happy with having their pay suspended, they were welcome to step down.

“I will follow up closely with the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy to monitor which ministries have the highest electricity bills,” he said.

Kong Vibol, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, could not be reached for comment yesterday.