Forum - Bhutan Daily

S/J businessman booked

2008-01-20T15:36:45+00:00

With so much news coverage on the elections this news is quite a change and I think it will be interesting to follow this case:

KOL: 19 January, 2008 - After being remanded for nine days under judicial custody, Sonam Dukpa, the proprietor of Eastern Bhutan Coal Company and Eastern Bhutan Silicon Private Ltd., was granted bail by the Samdrup Jongkhar district court yesterday.

According to sources in Samdrup Jongkhar, Sonam Dukpa was arrested and charged with “malicious mischief,” after he demolished the Royal Bhutan Police’s sport facilities. He had allegedly trespassed and destroyed a badminton court and a tennis court in the compound of the RBP camp on January 7 and 8. He had reportedly deployed about 17 labourers and two excavators to raze the courts that he had built for the camp some years ago.

Kuensel learnt that Sonam Dukpa had resorted to such an act because he was reportedly not given a police escort when he travelled on business through sensitive areas. He was detained by police on January 10.

According to the Penal Code of Bhutan, a defendant shall be guilty of the offence of malicious mischief if the defendant, without right or any reasonable ground, tampers with public or private property with intent to cause substantial inconvenience to the owner or to a third person.

The offence of malicious mischief is considered a “misdemeanour” for which a defendant, if found guilty, is liable to a prison term from one to three years.

Remanded in custody

2008-01-26T11:42:21+00:00

This news is quite interesting. Danpaul Bhutan, a taxi driver was mugged by Vivian Daniel in Tobago. I feel for Danpaul, and am curious as to how how he got his family name, Bhutan. Can someone through some light on this?

Friday, January 25th 2008

Vivian Daniel, 22, of Lambeau has been remanded in custody to reappear in court on Monday charged with the attempted murder and robbery with violence of taxi driver Danpaul Bhutan.

Since the robbery on January 13 Bhutan has been in a critical condition at the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital, Cocorite, in west Trinidad.

He was stabbed about the body repeatedly, thrown out of his vehicle and left for dead, while his car which was stolen was later recovered by Police abandoned in the Lambeau area.

Bombs blasted in four dzongkhags

2008-01-20T15:39:35+00:00

This is news that really angers me. It looks like the ngolops are not planning to leave Bhutan in peace. I pray the RBP makes a good break through on this case and quickly catches the people behind this.

KOL BREAKING NEWS20 January, 2008 - Four bomb blasts took place between 11.10am and 2.10pm in four different dzongkhags today, including one in the capital, Thimphu.

The first blast went off at 11:10 am near the vegetable market in Samste dzongkhag. There were no reported injuries or damages to property.

The second blast took place at 11:45 am in Thimphu town, behind the SNS restaurant. The impact of the explosion shattered the window panes of buildings in the area and unnerved shopkeepers, residents, and passersby in the area but no injuries were reported.

At 1:20 pm a third blast occurred near the gate of the Tala Guest House in Gedu, in Chukha dzongkhag. A woman who was hit by a splinter on her right leg was admitted in the Gedu Hospital.

At 2:10 pm the fourth blast occurred in Dagapela, in Dagana dzongkhag, behind the house of Passang Tshering. A second explosive device, which did not go off, was found in the same area. There was no injury to any person or damage to property in the blasts in Samtse and Dagapela.

A spokesman for the Royal Bhutan Police, who are investigating the blasts, said that one of the three militant organizations based in Nepal, the Bhutan Tiger Force, the Bhutan Maoists Party, and the Communist Party of Bhutan was suspected to be behind these bomb blasts.

Broadband internet in town - FINALLY

2007-10-12T04:44:30+00:00

This is good news for IT future of Bhutan as broad band is important for the industry. Now only thing left is for price to drop to competitive levels.

BT October 10, 2007 -Thimphu: Good bye to the snail-fast dial up days.

Druknet is launching broadband internet services in six pockets: Thimphu, Phuentsholing, Paro, Wangduephodrang, Trongsa and Kanglung. While dialup needs a dedicated telephone line, broadband technology offers at least double the speed without disrupting telephone use. With the installation already completed, Druknet is upgrading the international bandwidth which would speed up internet services.

Tshering Norbu, IP Infrastructure manager of Druknet, told BT that, “the introduction of broadband will solve the current speed limitations of especially the dialup users and bring many more additional services like internet TV on its platform.” The connection would be fast enough to download a movie from the internet in minutes.But the rates are going to be dearer.

The cheapest in the scheme is a monthly subscription of Nu 1,000 with a speed of 256 kbps. A customer can download and upload 500 megabytes of information. That means a broadband user cannot download a complete movie with a monthly subscription. The customer will have to pay Nu 3 for every additional megabyte of upload or download.

Druknet will provide circuit bandwidth ranging from 256 kbps to 2 mbps (2,000kbps). The software industry in Bhutan will immensely benefit as ‘broadband penetration’ is considered an indicator of economic development.

Nu 452 million enclave for new ministers in 2008

2007-10-12T16:06:01+00:00

This is a slightly older story but it has implications for us for many years to come. It is a huge amount of money involved just for this complex. Thank god complex for National Assembly members were canceled! In my simple view this one should have been canceled too.

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BT - September 23, 2007 - Thimphu: The first democratically elected prime minister of Bhutan will not have a better place than his official residence to wipe the campaign sweat off his brow.

He can unwind in the multi-gym after a heated debate in the parliament. His children and grandchildren can play around in the only children’s park in town after a rarely used one in Motithang.

His recluse will be a Nu 17.213 million bungalow in a sprawling two-acre compound.

Named ‘Ministers Enclave,’ the housing complex which is coming up in Motitang will have 20 buildings.

A total of 22.4 acres has been allotted for building the entire enclave which includes 10 houses for the elected ministers, five for constitutional post holders, and one each for the chief justice, the national council chairman, the lower house speaker and the opposition leader.

The budget allocation for just the naked buildings is Nu 452 million excluding the cost of furnishing, interiors and landscaping.

“The total cost of the entire enclave after furnishing and landscaping cannot be estimated at the moment since some of the facilities are yet to be approved,” said a spokesperson of the National Housing Development Corporation which has employed four class A contractors, four class B contractors and eight in-house engineers for the project.

The two-storey bungalows will be floored with marbles and wood-paneled in certain rooms and tiled for wet area floors.

Each house will have a chandelier to add a little glamour to the high profile enclave. “The price of the chandeliers will be a maximum of Nu 100,000 each,” said the spokesperson.

A common center in the middle of the enclave is likely to have a multi-purpose hall with an extended lawn. “The hall might include health facilities like a gym, sauna and steam. This has not been finalized at the moment and we are still waiting for approval,” he said.

Adjacent to each bungalow will be a double-storey building which will house the servants’ quarter and a garage underneath. A separate building for security officials is also being constructed.

The boundary of the enclave wall consists of barbed wires on the outside, bricked wall inside and a footpath in the middle of the two for the patrolling team.

The two entrances to the enclave, one from upper Motithang and the other one from Motithang market area will be heavily guarded.

Other facilities in the enclave include a children’s park with a fountain, an eco-friendly in-house sewerage treatment plant, proper parking and streetlights. Outdoor play area and area for recreational activities is also in the plan.

Scheduled to be ready by March 2008, the work for the complex started in April this year.

“The contractors are serious and we are very much committed to this high profile project,” said P.D. Wangdi, the Project Manager.

The in house design of the bungalows was guided by the caretaker prime minister, Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji, and the former agriculture minister, Sangay Ngedup.

Know your candidates

2007-10-12T04:50:21+00:00

Kuensel has an on going interview series letting candidates go head to head on the same questions. It is a good way to keep track of who is running from where and what kind of views they have. This is the link: Know your candidates

bhutantimes.bt hacked

2007-09-17T05:24:02+00:00

I went to bhutantimes.bt to see if there were new stories but found that it has been hacked! Claims to be a turkish hacker with a flag and face on the flag (may be Kemal Ataturk or some Turkish extremist) with this message on it: HACKED BY iSKORPiTX (TURKISH HACKER).

Readers should beware about viruses coming off that site and have firewall, etc. on when browsing. I hope my firewall and antivirus were up to date when I went there.

Chief Election Commissioner says campaigning is not allowed on familiarization visits

2007-09-17T04:54:54+00:00

This is something I am confused about. The CEC has been saying campaigning can take place only during the official campaign period. Over here he repeats that by saying there can be no campaigning during familiarization tours. My confusion is right here, isn’t a familiarization tour basically campaigning? What else can the two parties do with hundreds of people sitting in the audience, just drink chhang and ara, or have suja desi, and talk about weather? I think CEC is making big mistake by not saying collection of people for talks by party leader is campaigning and not familiarization.

BBS - 2007, September 16: Campaigning is not allowed during familiarization visits the Chief Election Commissioner reiterated during an interview with the BBS yesterday.

The Chief Election Commissioner Dasho Kunzang Wangdi said since Bhutan is embarking on the democratic process for the first time, everybody including politicians and party members are learning and sometimes mistakes are made.

Some, he said, are interpreting things to suit their own convenience.

He said the election commission does not have the time and resource to monitor each and every candidate and that they cannot draw conclusions from media reports alone.

But he said if the election commission gets reports backed by evidence, they will take action.

Tourism – Big fish to rule?

2007-09-15T08:06:42+00:00

I think the title is correct. The annual licence fee was dropped from 25,000 to 12,000. But interest on a deposit of 3 lakhs at 12% works out to 36,000. So new licence fee is about Nu. 48,000 not to mention that many small operators don’t have spare cash like 3 lakhs to leave in hands of DOT. This ruling is definitely in favor of big fish. Even in this article you can hear big tour operators supporting the rule - why would any tour operator agree to part with 3 lakhs unless they figure something else is benefiting them?

From Bhutan Observer - Thimphu: 14 September 2007 The tourism department has introduced a mandatory system of making a security deposit of Nu. 300,000, and the majority of the small tour operators fear they may have to close shop in 2008.

Many of the small companies are unhappy with the security deposit, saying it is more than they can afford. Among the most threatened operators are recently established small timers like Ugyen Dorji (name changed).

“I put in everything my parents had to set up my new agency so I now have neither money nor assets to mortgage,” he said. “My tour operator friends are unhappy about it and I am sure that there are many like us who feel the same.”

Ugyen complained that the tourism department should have called for a general meeting of all the tour operators and listened to the concerns of all parties affected instead of discussing the matter with only the Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators (ABTO) committee members.

The tourism department’s Director General, Lathu Wangchuk, defended the new rule on the security deposits saying it was necessary in order to discourage ‘fly-by-night’ tour operators.

“There are lots of illdisciplined operators who do not do their bookkeeping and service providing, so the department had a long meeting with the stake holders to come up with this new rule,” he said, adding that all tour agencies that did not abide by the new rule would be denied the licence to operate.

“This is an international norm to guarantee consumer protection.” But the aggrieved parties are not buying that line of argument. One operator, who requested anonymity, told Observer, “Nu. 300,000 is no guarantee that defaulters will not default again.”

Another operator said that, in such desperate times, the government appeared hell-bent on crippling him rather than helping him find his feet. A freelance guide said the new rule appeared to favour the bigger and more affluent companies who could now take over the entire market.

Small operators admit that the tourism department’s recent reduction of the license renewal fee from Nu. 25,000 to Nu. 12,000 had been a welcome move but the new ruling nullified it.

While small companies complain on one hand, there are operators on the other side of the fence – mostly financially stronger companies – who accepted the new rule. One of them remarked that, if people were really serious, the deposit should not deter them.

The Managing Director of Yangphel Adventure Travels, Karma Lotey, who is also one of the ABTO committee members, told Observer that the rule introduced by the tourism department should be accepted as it was backed by valid reasoning.

He said that when the tourism department had called for the meeting with the committee members, there had initially been mixed feelings.

“But we all came to accept this rule taking into consideration the reasons the department had cited,” he said.

An ABTO officer suggested that operators who had no money could mortgage fixed assets with a bank.

Last year there were 17,348 tourist arrivals, while this year over 19,000 are expected. Meanwhile, the small operators remain worried sick. The deadline for submitting the security deposit, October 31, looms just around the corner.

“It is difficult to remain apolitical”

2007-09-15T07:42:06+00:00

Bhutan Observer: Thimphu 14 September 2007 As political fever grips the countryside, local government leaders are walking a thin line between partisanship and neutrality.

The constitution and the election rules mandate local government leaders, gups, mangmis and tshogpas, to be apolitical. But with politics brewing in all corners, they find it a lot harder to comply and say that it is easier said than done.

The Radhi Gup in Trashigang, Samdrup, said that the nature of the job and the prevailing situation made it very difficult for them to remain apolitical. “We are humans and it is natural to have preferences.” He added that he was contemplating joining a political party after his term as the gup expires after three months.

Recently, in a gewog zomdue (public gathering) in Trashi Yangtse, the gup reportedly told the people at the conclusion of the meeting that it would be better not to attend the talk by a forthcoming political aspirant. A party worker of the candidate said that the gup was misleading the people by aligning himself with the other party.

“The gup is not remaining apolitical,” said a resident and added that the gup was an influential person in the gewog and whatever he said carried weight.

There are also several informal reports that many local leaders have already affiliated themselves to political parties and are working for the party Directly or indirectly.

In Dagana, a gup is reported to be doing the ground work for a party candidate who is closely related to him. According to a source, the candidate is on a familiarisation tour and was seen visiting houses with the gup.

An observer in one of the gewogs in Trashigang told Observer that the gup of his gewog was working for a political party. “The gup is discreetly and indirectly working for a political party,” he said.

But both the political parties, PDP and DPT, deny having any local leaders working directly or indirectly for them. “Even if the local leaders are interested to work for the party we tell them to resign first,” said PDP spokesperson Tashi Tshering.

While many gups told Observer that it was difficult to remain apolitical with their responsibilities and under the current situation, some gups disagreed. The Phongmey Gup in Trashigang, Dorji Wangchuk said that his duty was to inform and create awareness about democracy and the electoral process but not to influence people and take sides with political parties.

“It is not hard to remain apolitical if you do your duty sincerely,” he said. As per the election rules most of the dzongdas have briefed the local leaders to remain apolitical.

The Dagana Dzongda, Gholing Tshering, said that the dzongkhag has been keeping strict vigilance to ensure that local leaders remain apolitical. Punakha Dzongda, Dawala, said that since the political parties are just familiarising themselves at the moment, the issue is not very pertinent.

He said that it will be more important to regulate it when parties start campaigning. The earlier version of the draft constitution stated that “candidates for election to local governments may belong to political parties or be independent candidates”.

It was however revised in the latest version which says that they have to be apolitical.