"The Standing Committee of the provincial party unit held a meeting to review responsibilities of the entire committee and related individuals in letting this mistake happen. We will report this incident in full and seek guidance from the central government," a press release said Monday.

While the installation of security cameras in general was not a problem, the scale and the source of money used were a mistake, the release said.

It said the brief to enhance security in the neighborhood of party leaders’ residences was exceeded in terms of scale, the number of cameras and budget expended.

Therefore, the provincial party unit would retrieve the money spent on installing security cameras in the homes of 12 members of its party's Steering Committee, which is estimated at over VND880 million ($38,000), the release said.

Lam Tan Hoa, head of the province party unit's propaganda department, declined to comment on the exact reasons behind this decision.

Last April, Soc Trang's Party Deputy Secretary Huynh Van Sum signed a decision allocating nearly VND982 million from the party's budget reserves for installing security cameras in the homes of members of the party unit's Steering Committee.

This decision was reportedly made following proposals from Soc Trang police as part of a program to provide general protection for the offices of party and state agencies.

The homes of the party unit's leaders were also included as they are those that are likely to face problems coming from antisocial elements.

However, the decision to install cameras in officials' homes using the party's budget was met with strong public criticism. Party units’ spending is covered in the provincial budget.

According to Chung Thanh Tam, head of Soc Trang's finance department, the province earned revenues of over VND3.8 trillion and spent about VND9.8 trillion last year, so the central government had to support the provincial government with nearly VND6 trillion.

While the first nine months of this year saw Soc Trang's budget revenue meet the planned target, Tam said the province would still need similar support from the central government.