Our garbage

Posted inTowns

Residents in the capital will have welcomed the government’s announcement that “A massive clean-up campaign of the town and the river bank will begin shortly involving Thimphu’s residents” in preparation for the SAARC summit next month.
Thimphu will look presentable by this time next month. And our visitors will be duly impressed. But we, residents, must ask ourselves if our city really is as clean as it might look. And, if not, what we, residents, should do about it.
I took the following pictures a few days ago while walking to town from Taba.

Taba Rongchu

Controlling influence

Posted inMedia
There’s something strange going on. I have already expressed my concerns that the prime minister’s office may be influencing the media. But what has recently been happening is worse: one newspaper, Bhutan Today, has started carrying every press release that comes out of the prime minister’s office as their own story, word for word, but with their own byline. Compare the following stories: “Bigger responsibility for NSB, better data for nation” by the Cabinet; and “Statistics and GNH Statistics” by Bhutan Today “SAARC summit: preparations in full swing” by the Cabinet; and “450 Delegates to Attend SAARC Summit” by…

GNH is …

Posted inGeneral
Do you have a favorite GNH quote? Or an anecdote on Gross National Happiness? If so, please share them here. It will help me prepare for an upcoming conference.

Doubtful PM

Posted inEconomy, Government
More than decade has already passed since the start of Bhutan’s accession process to the WTO. And many of our current ministers have been involved throughout the process. So I find it strange that, after all these years, one of them, the prime minister, is “still unsure” about joining the WTO. What do you think? Should we join or not? Or are you also “still unsure”? Take our poll that asks, “Should Bhutan join the WTO?” Caricature by Bhutan Observer

Namrita Khandelwal

Posted inGovernment
Chhophyel, commenting on my previous post: “OL, I am glad that McKinsey’s proposal to liberalize tourist tariff is finally out the window.” McKinsey and Company is charging the government 9.1 million dollars in consulting fees. Add to that travel, living, per diem and other expenses, and the final tab, by some estimates, could exceed 14 million dollars! That’s a lot of money. So it’s amazing that we must feel a sense of relief every time their proposals get shot down. Their first proposal to go was about increasing annual tourist arrivals to 250,000. Then it was tourist tariff liberalization.…

Accountability matters

Posted inGovernment
The government is yet to issue an official statement rescinding the prime minister’s executive order of 13 November 2009 that liberalized tourist tariffs. Meanwhile, a big majority of the people (57%) who took our poll think that the prime minister should be held accountable for trying to liberalize the tourist tariff. 26% held TCB accountable. And only 17% blamed McKinsey. I agree with the results of our poll. No matter what, if any, consultations led to the big shift in tourism policy, ultimately it was the cabinet, particularly the prime minister, who approved the tariff liberalization. And who signed…

Excavating dirt

Posted inLegislature
Two weeks ago, I accidentally telephoned Passang Dorji, the chief reporter at The Journalist. I’d meant to call someone else. But somehow, I dialed Passang’s number instead. So we made use of the unforeseen opportunity to catch up. I asked how he was doing. And how their new company, The Journalist, was faring. He replied that the times were difficult; and that they weren’t making enough money; but that, with support from friends and relatives, they were pulling through. Passang also confided in me. He told me that they were working on a scoop – a story about members…

Flowering forests

Posted inGeneral
Almost everyone answered “Big picture – 8” correctly. Yes, the picture was part of an emerging rhododendron flower. And as Linda Wangmo suggested, I took the picture on my recent visit to Sombaykha Dungkhag in Haa. But Jigme Tshewang answered first. So Jigme wins the prize. Please contact me to claim the 2008 golden coronation badge. The area between Tergo-la (at about 3,800 m) and Taashi Thang (at about 1,800 m) is almost one continuous rhododendron forest. The forest is old. And it is pristine. Aum Rebecca Pradhan, a leading naturalist, estimates the forest to have about 35 species…

Digging deeper

Posted inMedia
Business Bhutan, in their last editorial: “A country like Bhutan would be happy to be adopted by Tata,” a press release from the government’s media cell quoted the prime minister as saying. Writing about that in his blog and opening up another debate the opposition leader took a dig at the media too. “And to make certain that Ratan Tata did not miss the Government’s invitation for adoption, all our major newspapers – Kuensel and Bhutan Today and Bhutan Observer and Bhutan Times and Business Bhutan – carried the PM’s tempting offer, word for word,” he wrote. I did,…

Accountability

Posted inGovernment8 Comments
The Tourism Council of Bhutan, it seems, has been made the scapegoat for spearheading the Government’s policy to liberalize tourist tariffs. Several of the people who attended last Wednesday’s meeting with the PM blamed TCB for not having consulted the stakeholders sufficiently, and for not having briefed our head of government properly. But was it really mainly TCB’s fault? Or were they, in fact, merely trying their best, as civil servants, to obey the Executive Order, signed by the PM, of their political masters of the day? And was it McKinsey who, in reality, sold the idea, directly to…

Adverse opinions

Posted inGovernment, Legislature
Should civil servants be allowed to express adverse opinions about the Government? 93% of those that took the the last poll answered with a resounding “Yes!” Now our polls are not scientific, and their results may not necessarily represent popular opinion. Still, and particularly on this issue, legislators, the Government and the RCSC would do well to reflect on the results. The Constitution grants every Bhutanese citizen with the fundamental right to “…freedom of speech, opinion and expression.” And yet, the Civil Service Bill, which the National Assembly passed last year, requires civil servants to “Refrain from publically expressing…

Big picture – 8

Posted inGeneral
It’s been a while since we did a Big Picture. The first person to guess the big picture correctly wins a golden coronation badge of His Majesty the King.

Flip-flop

Posted inEconomy, Government
I’m happy that the Government has revoked its decision to liberalize tourist tariffs. And that it has decided instead to increase the minimum tourist tariff to US$ 250 per night from 2011 onwards. Liberalizing tourist tariffs would have undermined Bhutan’s valuable brand image and affected our economy and society significantly. But I’m alarmed at how the Government changed its decision. Just one meeting with stakeholders and the Prime Minister decides, during that meeting itself, that liberalizing tourist tariffs is not such a good idea. Just a simple show of hands of those present at the meeting, and the PM…

Precious gifts

Posted inMonarchy
His Majesty’s birthday gifts to the people of Bhutan: a vibrant media and a strong judiciary for a successful democracy.

Birthday celebrations

Posted inMonarchy, Villages
Sombaykha is the latest of our country’s 16 dungkhags. It was established barely two years ago to serve the two remote gewogs of Sombaykha and Gakiling. The offices of the dungkhag, which consists of three makeshift houses, are located in Sibthang along the banks of the Amochu. Last Sunday, on 21 February, farmers from Gakiling and Sombaykha, descended on their dungkhag to celebrate His Majesty the King’s birth anniversary. This week’s banner features the dungkhag office. More photographs of the festivities are in the gallery.