Workers will receive three days of paid holidays at the end of this month for Pchum Ben, though the days falling on the weekend will not be moved to weekdays, according to a Labor Ministry announcement.
The ministry said on Wednesday that factory owners should allow all their employees to have three days off on the Pchum Ben days of September 24, 25 and 26 this year, which falls on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The Sunday holiday is not being moved. The employees should be paid as normal, it says.
Factories with global activities that cannot stop their work can organize shifts of workers over the three days, the ministry says. But those workers must receive extra payment for each day equal to their normal day rate. These factories must prepare a list of workers for each day for inspectors, the ministry adds.
— Pa Sokheng
Candlelight Official Says No Update on Assault
Nol Pongthearith, a Candlelight official assaulted in public by unknown assailants in July, says there has been no update on the police investigation to find the perpetrators after more than 50 days.
The opposition official was attacked while riding his motorbike on the road in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district, slashed with a knife by a group of about six assailants. The assault follows a pattern of violence against opposition activists in recent years — many of them daylight attacks in public. More than 30 activists have faced violence in five years, according to a lawyer.
Pongthearith said this week that it had been more than 50 days since the assault but he had received no information on the police investigation.
“I want the police to find the perpetrator as soon as possible. Firstly, so I can return to my political duties for the Candlelight Party, and secondly, so my family — especially my wife and children — can feel confident when I go out for political work that I am safe,” he said.
Choam Chao III commune and Pur Senchey district police said the case was with Phnom Penh police. Municipal police spokesman San Sokseyha could not be reached for comment.
— Pa Sokheng
