The Free Trade Union has asked the Minister of Labour and Vocational Training to ensure that factory management allows employees time off to return to their home towns and villages to verify that their names are registered on voters’ lists for next year’s commune elections.

FTU president Chea Mony wrote to Vong Soth on Monday, urging him to ensure that workers were given time off to fulfil their duties as citizens and vote.

They will need to verify their names are on voters’ lists, or register if they have just reached the voting age, during the time set by the National Election Committe, which ends on October15, he said.

He called on the minister to ensure managers took into account the distance between their factories, most of which are located near Phnom Penh, and the hometowns of the employees, who come from all over the country.

Vong Soth could not be reached for comment, but the ministry’s secretary of state, Oum Mean, said the ministry was already doing what Chea Mony had requested and that it was working closely with the NCE.

“We are preparing letters to send to factories and enterprises within the week. We did not do this at the request of any union,” Oum Mean added.

A report from the NEC on August 13 said the number of people entitled to vote was almost nine million, but only 87 per cent of those eligible  had registered.

Anyone 18 or older is elig-ible to vote.