Serving an unusual punishment for not doing a good job, Kyrgyzstan's President has banned top officials in his Central Asian state from taking holidays until later this year. The nation has been plagued by violence and crime since President Kurmanbek Bakiyev came to power in a revolution last year.

"I'll take measures if I find out that even one of the ministers has gone on holidays before December," Bakiyev told top government officials during a meeting on Monday, according to a statement on the presidential Web site.

President said he believes it was high time to take any rest.

"I think it's not time to rest, it's time to work," he said.

According to the Reuters, Bakiyev also ordered officials to cut the number of foreign trips and focus on domestic issues such as the 2007 budget and crop harvesting, the presidential statement said.

Most government officials in former Soviet states like Kyrgyzstan usually take up to a month off in July or August, bringing political life to a standstill during summer months.