Migrants Determine to Vote Though Transport Price Goes UP
Thursday, June 12, 2008 - Editor:
Fuel prices rose up sharply in May. This is a good excuse for the taxi drivers in Cambodia to increase their transport prices.
Nowadays, the prices of gasoline and diesel are nearly similar. Petrol is 5400 Riel or 5600 Riel per liter and diesel, which went up from 3500 Riel per liter, is 5400 or 5450 Riel per liter. Cambodians have complained a lot about the inflation, which has broken out since the early 2008. The diesel price only increased by 19 per cent (3500 to 5400 Riel per liter) while the transport one went up by 50 per cent, so the taxi drivers have capitalized from the inflation doubly or have taken advantage from the passengers.
Tung Sok, 40-year-old taxi driver on the national road four, says that the transport price is up to the oil one. “If the diesel price goes up, the cost of the transportation also increases,” he said. “We taxi drivers are not the ones who limit or augment the price, but the parking lot chief,” he added. He would not increase the price on the national Election Day, or voting passengers would not take the taxi; they would take the bus instead.
Hou Chamroeun, 30, a taxi driver on the national road one said that he didn’t want the transport price to be increased because there were not many passengers like before. “In 2003 election, the cost of taxi is only 6000 Riel per passenger, but now it cost 13000 Riel to 15000 Riel and the parking station also increased in price,” he said with an unhappy manner.
Kim Tet, 45, the manager of Ou Lampich parking station, said that it was true that the taxi drivers did not increase the price by themselves. Nonetheless, those taxi owners requested the parking lot chief to put the price up. “It means that the parking station chief increased the price of transportation after the taxi owners had suggested,” he said. “It is clear that the transport prices are increased two times higher than the oil prices,” said he. It was not only the gasoline price, but the spare parts of the taxies also went up, therefore comparing to the increasing of the diesel price, transport fee had to be increased two times if not their businesses would go bankrupt, and for the upcoming election, the price would be kept the same, he confirmed.
Rith Mony Transport Manager Thorn Sophal, 24, said that the transportation price of his company has risen after the inflation had occurred. “I don’t know whether the price will go up or not on the Election Day, it depends on the diesel price,” said he. For this company, it costs 35000 Riel from Phnom Pen to Stung Treng province and Poit Pet town and 30000 Riel from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville.
Although the transport price is very high, migrant people are determined to come back to their homelands to vote on July 27, or some of them will have some problems with their local authorities.
Construction worker Pang Da, 21-year-old Svay Rieng man, said that the price of taxi was not the obstacle for him. “If I don’t go to vote, I will face trouble next time with my authorities,” he said. He added that his commune or villager chief was going to note his name in case that he did go to vote and they would ignore him when he asked them to sign, for instance, his marriage letter, “Therefore I have to go to vote,” he said.
Around 30 female garment workers at Ever Green Apparel Factory in Toek Thlar district, Phnom Penh City say that they all still go to vote even though they spend a lot of money on transport. “We will vote for our favorite party and ask the new leader to get rid of current inflation and increase our salaries.”
Miss Ana, 18, one of them said that she would not miss such a good chance, for the national election always happens once in five years. “I don’t care much about the transport price. I am going to vote in my father town [Takeo province]; I care about the prices of goods, which continue going up very high from day to day,” she said. Pong Srey, 22, also confirmed that she knew the transport price was very high comparing with her salary, but she would full fill her obligation as one of the Cambodians, and she wanted only happiness in Cambodia.
Related to the high price of transport, the Chief Cabinet of General Secretary of National Election Committee (NEC) Mr. Chin Sarin expressed his concern about that. He said that NEC had no any policy on the case. “Cambodia is one of the free market countries, so we have difficulty to control such a kind of case,” he said. “But NEC always ask all garment employers not to reduce the employees’ salaries when they go vote,” he added.
