Chum Socheat, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defence. FACEBOOK
The Ministry of Defence’s newly formed anti-drug committee had its first meeting on Tuesday. It said it will focus on raising public awareness about drug and substance abuse, combat drugs within military units and work with police on anti-drug issues.
Minister of National Defence Tea Banh created the committee on April 30.
Ministry spokesman Chum Socheat told The Post on Wednesday that its first anti-drug committee was created to inform the public about the anti-drug policy and to work with the Ministry of Interior to enforce anti-drug laws, especially near the Kingdom’s borders.
He said soldiers must be incorporated as part of anti-drug task forces and while the ministry cannot say that they are not involved in the drug trade, they need to investigate first before taking action and enforcing anti-drug laws.
“As for now, I cannot say anything. We do not allow soldiers to use or get involved in drugs because they carry weapons. They have guns in their hands. It’s very dangerous. The senior leadership ordered that drug use be monitored at all [military] units.”
Socheat said drugs and traffic accidents were two major social issues facing the Kingdom today, and that the ministry will first turn its focus on drugs to prevent it from affecting military forces.
“We need to check at infantry units, air force units and regional units accordingly to clean all military units of drugs.”
He said the new anti-drug committee appointed Ministry of National Defence secretary of state Chay Saing Yun as its president.
It also appointed Ith Sarath, deputy commander-in-chief and Chief of Joint Staff of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Socheat as its two vice presidents. The committee consists of nine other members.
Socheat said the main responsibility of the committee is to represent the ministry on anti-drug matters, suggest recommendations to it pertaining to education, spread awareness of drug-control laws, and combat drugs in all task forces.
The new committee is also tasked with training role models to educate about and prevent drug abuse and trafficking at each military unit and report to minister of national defence regularly.
“The committee can use Ministry of National Defence stamps,” Socheat said.
Ministry of Interior spokesperson Khieu Sopheak told The Post on Wednesday that the new anti-drug committee will not interfere with the anti-drug authority under the Ministry of Interior.
He said he welcomed the creation of the committee, saying combating drugs is not merely the responsibility of the anti-drug police. Anti-drug operations, he said, require the collaboration of other authorities and the public.
“We want everybody’s support. If we can get a lot of people involved, it will be a success. I welcome the effort and the call for more participation,” he said.
Soeung Sen Karuna, the spokesman for human rights group Adhoc, told The Post on Wednesday that he also welcomes the new anti-drug committee.
He said if officials are expected to work effectively, then they need to be healthy. If they are involved in drugs, they would not be able to accomplish any tasks effectively.
He said he encouraged other organisations and departments to monitor and check on their teams to improve effectiveness while performing their duties.
“I don’t want to see government officials engaged in drugs. I want to see that government officials can fulfil their duties effectively. They are qualified people and are able to help their societies. They are officials who can contribute to their nation.”
Sen Karuna said that in the past, many committees had been created to tackle drug issues, but their execution was ineffective and their results were insufficient. There was never any signs of a drop in drug abuse rates at the local level, he said.
