News

PM's siren call to self-importance

November 20, 2009 Edition 2

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has decreed that only he and two other senior politicians may use sirens to clear the streets for their motorcades.

In a sub-decree promulgated on Monday, the prime minister specifically banned the country's ten deputy prime ministers and other politicians from using sirens to allow easier passage along he capital's roads.

The director of the department for public order at the national police, Him Yan, told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper that the move followed abuses of siren privileges. He said those had caused public disorder and traffic jams in the capital.

Members of the royal family are still permitted to use sirens, as are the motorcades of visiting dignitaries with the rank of deputy minister or above.

The regulation does not affect emergency vehicles such as ambulances, police vehicles and fire engines. The military is also exempt from the ruling. - Sapa-dpa