March 29, 2010 at 11:45 AM |
The problem of drug abuse by Bhutanese youth is serious, needs the atten tion of everyone, not just the government, but it is not too late to solve it, the prime minister told Bhutanese journalists at "Meet the Press" forum this week. The prime minister was responding to a question put up by a reporter who said that the very es sence of Bhutan as a GNH nation was being under mined by rampant reports of drug abuse and suicide among the youth. The prime minister said the problem was that Bhu tanese on the whole have not done enough to guide their children. Parents had no time for children, and the government had thus far been so busy expanding educational infrastructure to provide universal education that value education could not be attended to properly. Then there was the shortage of teachers which meant that the teacher- student ratio in the class room was not conducive to giving better attention to children. The prime minister felt that, as a society, enough concern had not been shown in the past on youth problems to build sensitiv ity to influence public pol icy and, therefore, quick and effective measures. "We should have raised this question even earlier," he said. "The public as a whole has the responsi bly of influencing public policy and if more of you had raised questions the government has to be even more concerned." Modern development and the ensuing liberaliza tion of Bhutanese society was also to be blamed. Bhutanese had become so liberal in the way they conduct their lives that they were very liberal with their children. "Very few of us, espe cially the younger genera tion parents, see it as our responsibility to inculcate the right kind of attitude and behavior," he said. "Many of us perhaps even do not have the time and, in many cases, both the parents are work ing parents and we hire untrained, sometimes illiterate people to substi tute ourselves as parents to look after our children. And they are not able to look after them properly. They end up most of the time after school in front of the television from which they don't learn the very best of things and values." The solution, the prime minister pointed out, lies in infusing GNH values in the education system – an exercise that has already begun – whereby children begin to develop values, ethics and morality. Children ought to be conscious, he said, that they live in "a finite world", that nature is vulnerable, that there are things such as global warming, climate change and melting glaciers, that water sources dry up. Children also should learn that relationships between classmates, chil dren and siblings are more important than coming in their parents' land cruiser, or a Mercedes Benz or a foreign car, and showing off. "These are things we are trying to inculcate and it is very interesting. In my first interaction with rep resentative children here in Thimphu, it was amaz ing. I was moved by what the children were doing." "So I think it is not too late," he added. "The gov ernment is doing its best." Spirituality, rather than materialism, was being en couraged, and more teach ers were being brought into schools. The good thing, he said, was that there was aware ness. The fact that the outside world saw Bhutan as an ideal, tranquil and spiritual country also chal lenged those back home to do more. "There is hope," he said. By Khampa in THIMPHU |
March 29, 2010 at 11:41 AM |
To ease traffic congestion during the 16th SAARC summit, the Royal Bhutan Police will introduce a new system whereby motor vehicles with last odd and even numbers will be allowed to ply on certain days. For example, the vehicles bearing the last digit ODD number e.g. BP-1A-1231 will be permitted to move within the city while last digit EVEN e.g. BP-1A-0122 number vehicles will be al lowed on the next day and the alternate turns will be followed till 30 April. However, the ban will be lifted and movement of ve hicles will be allowed from 8pm till the 7 am the next morning. On the arrival of the head of governments of SAARC member countries on 26 and 27 April, the movement of all vehicles from the opposite direction will be stopped and no park ing or standing of vehicles will be permitted on the highway between Paro and Thimphu. The security sub-commit tee comprising the three armed forces have been given the responsibility to provide security arrange ments for the summit. Apart from the major security concern during the summit, one of the major challenging tasks for the se curity agencies, particularly for the Royal Bhutan Police, will be the management and regulation of traffic in the capital city as Thimphu has single narrow by lane, limited parking spaces and congested vehicle traffic. A similar kind of strategy to control traffic was earlier used by the police at the Tashichhodzong and RMA in December 2008.Police say this strategy during the summit would help reduce traffic drastically and help manage the traffic, parking and congestion problem. However, this traffic rule will be creating inconve nience for residents who live far away from town and offices. Sonam Lham, a govern ment employee staying at Namseling, said now she will have to catch a city bus to office on alternate days. "It will be difficult but I think we will have to bear the inconvenience for a few days," she said. "I always come in city bus, so it doesn't make any difference," said Nim Dorji, a student. Another corporate em ployee, a resident of Jung shina, said that: "It would be rather wise if the gov ernment declares public holidays during the SAA RC summit as that would keep most civil servants at home," he said. All vehicles, except for BHT, CD and BG regis tered, armed forces ve hicles, passenger/public transport buses and taxis and vehicles on summit duty with vehicle stickers will not be permitted to move or travel within the city during the ban period. No heavy vehicles will be allowed in the city except during the relaxed period. By Dorji Peljor in THIMPHU |
March 29, 2010 at 11:37 AM |
The dzongkhag and local government leaders have full authority on matters related to land issues but the unavailability of land record officers (LRO) has meant that the works are left in complete. Gups say that gewogs frequently face the prob lem of unequal distribution and shortage of land, but the land record officers are never found in their offices. "I had a complaint from the people of my gewog that, whenever they go to the land record office, it is always seen locked," said the gup of Bajo, Wangduephodrang. The Laya gup expressed the same opinion. Gasa, in fact, has a unique problem. One LRO posted there left for medical reasons and, strangely, his successor followed suit after barely a month. Dasho Sangay Khandu, the Land Commission secre tary, informed the gups the commission was recruiting 20 graduate as LROs and that their problem would be greatly reduced. The gups also pointed out that lands were being pooled but not properly compensated or substituted. "We are being told, for ex ample, to get land substitu tion above the old highway but when we plan to acquire the plot, there is the forestry department interfering," said Kanjur, the Chang gup. "Nor are we allowed to ac quire on the opposite sides since the land falls under urban category. So where is the question of getting our land back?" Dasho sangay Khandu explained that the main reason behind land pool ing was to construct hos pitals, schools, and other development projects. "The government always takes the greater portion of the burden and tries to minimize the loss to the public," he said. The gups also asked the government to look into the problem of some peo ple having thram in one dzongkhag and census records in another. This impeded the collection of land and house tax. This bottleneck arose as a result of the 2008 general election, according to the gups. By Dorji Peljor in THIMPHU |
March 29, 2010 at 11:33 AM |
Eight university professors from Japan and Thailand were among 50 who partic ipated in an international workshop on appropriate farm and engineering technology for small scale farmers. Organised by the agriculture machinery centre (AMC) in Paro, the workshop was aimed at establishing technical link age with institutes in the neighboring countries. The participants, mainly agriculture and forestry officials, also learned the techniques of improving the professionalism of staff by motivating them and accelerating their learning process. The workshop is a follow to a similar one held at Thamasat University in Thailand last year where three staff from the AMC attended along with the centre's chief advisor for strengthening farm mechanization project. According to Chetem Wangchen, the farm mechanization specialist at the AMC, the workshop updated the knowledge of the participants on the status of farm machinery around the world and evolving approaches. Presentations also made on the prospect of training programmes offered by the universities and training institutes in Japan and Thailand which are rel evant to Bhutan. He said the workshop strengthened the relation between the institutes and the AMC to carry out col laborative activities in the field of training, research and development. Collaborations are, in fact, already underway. IN future, AMC technicians can visit these institutes to observe, and undertake training and research works. "The benefit will be tremendous," said Chetem Wangchen. "The informa tion and link established will enable the AMC to source in appropriate farming technologies." The AMC can henceforth speed up the promotion of appropriate technologies that can be used in Bhutan with slight modifications. While Japan is the lead ing technology source, both software and hard ware, for Bhutan, Thailand has many practical project which can be adopted in Bhutan. Three professors at the workshop also presented papers on the rehabilita tion of pico- and micro-hydropower projects in the rural and remote areas of Chaingmai in Thailand. The presentation was highly relevant to Bhutan, especially in areas where the power grid system cannot reach. "The tech nology is very simple and very appropriate for every small communities and individual farmers," said Chetem Wangchen. The second paper presented was on "Food versus Energy", highlight ing the current world issue of the food crops being grown for energy (bio die sel and bio ethanol), which affects food prices. The third paper was on the possibility of produc ing biomass from micro al gae for energy production, which has the potential of supplementing the grow ing fuel crisis. By Pema Denkar in THIMPHU |
March 29, 2010 at 11:20 AM |
The DPT government is confident that it will achieve the targeted 9% economic growth within its tenure despite the fact that in the past two years the economy saw an aver age growth rate of 7%. Speaking to the media at the Meet the Press on Thursday, the works and human settlement minis ter Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba said the 9% growth rate was very ambitious. "But we are committed for a faster pace of develop ment. Even in the past we have achieved a growth rate of 6-7% when many countries had growth rates of just 2-3%," said the minister. Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba said the reason why the government feels the 9% growth rate is feasible is because Bhutan is no longer at the same stage of development as three of four years back. "In many ways we have reached a stage, which in economic parlance, is called the take-off stage. Unlike in the past we are more aware of the poten tial outside, our capacity has been enhanced, and infrastructure has devel oped. So we have reached a stage where we can move faster than in the past," he said. The works and human settlement minister said the targeted growth rate is achievable as there are several hydropower projects on the pipeline. "These power projects are very big. As a result of the implementation of these power projects over the next couple of years, as it progresses, the growth rate will be much higher," he said. This will contribute to the growth through the construction sector, em ployment of more people, and use of more local resources, said Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba. And after the power projects are completed, it will contrib ute by generating revenue, he added. "When Tala project was completed the GDP jumped by around 21%. Now given a very small place and very large proc ess of important projects, only 9% is possible," he said. Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba explained that initial years in any development is spent in preparation, so lot of yhr impact of the plans take place only after the second or third year. Many plans are imple mented like the starting of the Punatsangchu and Mangdechu projects, and with the present Punat sangchu I taking off, the government is trying to accelerate the economic development. "For instance, we have plans in the tourism sec tor. We are talking about increasing the number of tourists and the employ ment potential. So when these activities start, and they will start because the policies are placed, and some have already started, achieving the growth rate of 9% is difficult but can and will be done," said Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba. The economic affairs minister, also present at the Meet the Press, said in some ways, a lot of com mitments or activities in the DPT manifesto are ambitious. "If we don't have a growth rate of 9% we won't achieve economic self reliance by 2020 nor will we be able to offer gainful employment to our youth," he said. The government has done the ground work and the economic development policy will be released shortly, said the economic affairs minister. "We are revising the for eign direct investment pol icy. We are also accelerat ing economic development – various programmes we have broached and worked with McKinsey," he said. By Khampa in THIMPHU |
