The old system used by the communists of householders reporting to the authorities
the names of all visitors staying overnight in their houses in Phnom Penh has returned.
The Phnom Penh municipal authority has announced through the television and radio
the reintroduction of the system.
Sok Lekhena, deputy chief of Phnom Penh municipal cabinet said that this can improve
residential security as well as the general security.
He said people had been murdered by visitors who then disappeared without a trace.
He added that the move would allow authorities to match registrations with arrest
warrants so they could find wanted suspects.
He said hotel and guest house owners would also be required to provide a list of
people staying in their establishments.
Chun Sath, acting secretary general of Adhoc, agreed the plan would help fight crime
but he said he was worried that the authorities could misuse the information in some
way.
The plan comes at time when the authorities are already introducing a new national
identity card system.
The new cards are being printed in China with Chinese foreign aid assistance.
Civil servants will be the first group to be issued with the cards.
Lekhena said that the new cards would be very difficult to forge because they were
using a new system of manufacture.
He said the people's photographs were part of the card and not just stuck on.
He said in addition to providing identification the cards would contain biographical
information which would also be registered on a computer.
