Cambodian queue to obtain national ID cards at the Khmer Identification Bureau office in AEON Mall Sen Sok last month.
In the first four days of December, the Khmer Identification Bureau of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police, together with district and commune police, had made national ID cards for more than 3,000 people.
Municipal police spokesman San Sok Seiha said on December 5 that after instructions were issued by municipal police chief and deputy National Police chief Sar Thet, work on the issuance of cards was accelerated.
“In total, we have prepared cards for 3,093 people. This includes new cards as well as replacements for lost, expired or damaged cards,” he added.
He said the public had been cooperative with the scheme, and this had been helped by officials’ deciding to work extra hours. Previously, many people were reluctant to take time off from work to apply for their cards.
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“We have saved the public a lot of time. Most public services close at 5pm, but our team is working until 6, 7 or even until 10pm at night,” he said.
National ID cards are valid for 10 years, and according to the Ministry of Interior’s database there are 1.7 million people with ID cards that expired before July, 2022.
The interior ministry said in October that those holding expired ID cards needed to renew them within the next 90 days to ensure receipt of a new card for use in voting in next year’s general election.
Cambodian Institute for Democracy president Pa Chanroeun said it was good that authorities had made it easier for people to obtain ID cards, however more notice could have been given to allow people to assemble the paperwork they needed for the process.
Chanroeun added that in his observation, the quality of the national ID cards was still low. He suggested that the authorities consider changing the material used to make the cards.
He said that as they are an important document designed for official use, they should be sturdier.
“The quality of some ID cards is lower than many bank cards,” he said.
The General Department of Identification dismissed the suggestion, saying through social media that the cards were of a quality appropriate to their importance.
Tuol Kork district police chief Sok Heng told The Post on December 5 that authorities had cooperated with village and commune chiefs to share the later hours. As a result, more than 100 people a day applied for the cards in Tuol Kork district alone.
“We made sure to announce what documents were required, so there were no issues,” he said.
He said that police officers photographed the completed forms and sent them to the municipal police who then passed them to the identification department. Once the cards were printed, police officers delivered them to the cardholders at their homes.
