Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen announced here this morning the reduction of the cost of water for factory workers to further help improve their living standard.
At a get-together with some 4,400 heads of admin and heads of section from 83 factories and enterprises in Phnom Penh at Koh Pich Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Cambodian Premier said from Sept. 1, 2017, workers will pay only 800 Riel (US$0.2) per cubic metre of water, down from 1,200 Riel (US$0.3) currently.
With this new rate, the workers will be able to save 400 Riel (US$0.1) per cubic metre of water while the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority will lose approximately US$600,000 a year, he added.
According to Samdech Techo Hun Sen, clean water network has been so far connected to 5,119 houses or more than 120,000 rented rooms in Phnom Penh capital and Kandal province.
Taking the opportunity, he urged landlords not to increase the room rental for the whole year 2018 when the workers’ wages will see a yearly rise, and hoped that the landlords will contribute to carrying out the royal government’s industrial development policy.
Last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced that all factory workers and employees will get their monthly retirement pension from 2019 onward as the civil servants.
Besides, for the Social Security Schemes on Health Care, he said that starting from January 2018, the employers will take full charge in paying into the health care scheme (currenly, the workers and employers were required to contribute 50 percent each). The Ministry of Health is advised to create health centre or referral hospital near the factories in order to provide easy access to healthcare services for the workers and employees.
Moreover, the Phnom Penh Municipality was ordered to provide free-of-charge public bus service for the workers for two years, from August 2017 to August 2019.
A report of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training shows that there are now about 1,107 factories in Cambodia, employing more than 740,000 workers, up from only 64 in 1998 with some 80,000 workers.
by C. Nika
