Two months ago, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Information and Communication, and the Tourism Council of Bhutan signed “performance compacts” with the Prime Minister. The contracts outlined important work that the agencies would do during the next three years, and set specific targets that they would have to achieve. Some countries – India, France, Kenya, and Malaysia are examples – have used performance contracts successfully to improve the overall performance of government agencies. And any practice that improves efficiency, accountability and transparency in our government must be welcome. But for the contracts to work, the targets must…
The short entry about the appointment of Tenzin Rigden as the PM’s media advisor generated some long and heated discussions. Very good. But now what? First, the media must beware. By Tenzin Rigden’s own admission he has deep connections in the media: … here are the facts – worked in Kuensel for 10 years; started and ran BT for three years (yes, I still own 10% BT shares if there is any value at all now); the owner of Bhutan Today is my first cousin and its CEO my nephew; the editors of Business Bhutan are friends and former…
A recent entry, which was basically a reproduction of the opposition party’s Press Release on the Government’s tourism policies, generated a lot of comments. As of now there are 44 comments, the last of which belongs to “10000eyes” asking: OL: do you read all the comments made by the blogger…or you just glance on it? just want to know… Yes, I do read your comments. I read every one of them. And I benefit immensely from your comments, especially those that are critical of and challenge my views. Obviously what’s more important is that other people – concerned citizens…
Dog house
About two weeks ago, after returning from Gakiling, I visited the dog pound in Haa. The pound, located several kilometers above Jengkana and right beside the dzonghag’s landfill, is in fact a sprawling facility of cement, corrugated iron and wire mesh spread over an acre among blue pine forests. I was immediately impressed.
Namgay, the caretaker, proudly took me on a tour of the facility which includes separate pounds – each neatly divided by wire mesh – for new arrivals, puppies, recreation, weak dogs, dogs undergoing medical treatment, and “dada” dogs. He explained that the resident dogs are fed twice a day, and that a network of concrete channels drains their faeces to a nearby septic tank. I was truly impressed.
There was one problem though: the boarding facility had only nine residents! Namgay clarified that when the pound first opened, about three years ago, they had about 200 inmates. Many of them escaped, by digging under the fence or simply climbing over it, to the unfurnished but much more promising landfill, located immediately adjacent to the pound.
But they mainly died, in the pound itself, from hunger, sickness and cannibalism. Most recently, on New Year’s Day, 30 of the animals lost their lives due to the extreme cold. It had snowed that morning.
So Bhutan Observer’s report, that the Government is rethinking its approach to control the stray dog population in our country, comes as very good news.
All our members of parliament would consider visiting their respective constituencies to be one of their most important duties. And I’m sure that they visit their constituencies as often as possible. I certainly do. So when I wrote “Happily exhausted” I didn’t mean to sound like having done anything extraordinary. But, somehow, I had ticked off “Toula” who commented: You made this trip of yours to your own constituency where you made all the promises sound like you were traveling to the end of the world where no one else ever dared to do. Wow! wow! wow! I obviously…
The Opposition Leader called on the Minister of Economic Affairs, His Excellency Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk, yesterday to express the Opposition Party’s concerns on the Royal Government’s recent policy decisions on tourism. The Opposition Leader reported that, after studying the Royal Government’s Executive Order of 13 November 2009 and consulting a wide range of people, representing a cross section of society, the Opposition Party has concluded that: On the Royal Government’s decision to “Roll out of the integrated channel, price and supply policy that liberalizes the minimum package price and mandatory package via tour operator requirement…”
Liberalizing the tourist tariff will undermine the positive brand image that our country has carefully cultivated and enjoyed over the last three decades. Most foreigners, including those who have never visited Bhutan, perceive Bhutan as a high end, exclusive destination. They consistently applaud the existing tariff policy as responsible and sustainable measures that are also in line with the principles of Gross National Happiness. Liberalizing the tourist tariff, even if it actually amounts to increased tourist spending, will harm Bhutan’s brand image.
When Dasho Kinley Dorji was appointed as the MOIC secretary last year, I hinted that that could be both good and not-so-good for our media. Now, it appears that the government has recruited Tenzin Rigden, apparently on a short-term contract, as their “media advisor”. Tenzin Rigden worked in Kuensel, owned Bhutan Media Services, and started and owns Bhutan Times. He’s commands considerable influence in the media circle. So, like Dasho Kinley, Tenzin’s appointment to the Prime Minister’s Office can be good for the media. Or, it could be dangerous. We’ll know soon enough. But for now, what we need…
About a month ago, I’d written about bicycling with my son. In response to that article, two readers, TOJT and Romeo, cautioned against biking in Thimphu – they warned that inexperienced motorists and road rage make biking in the capital a dangerous exercise.
I’ve been biking a lot recently, and find that Thimphu traffic is generally respectful of bikers. But there are times when our roads can become unsafe: immediately before and after office, when every one seems to be in a hurry, for example. And, sometimes, when negotiating passing and oncoming taxis and trucks. And, when confronted with the occasional angry motorist.
So, yes, we need to do need to make Thimphu’s roads safer for bikers. In this regard, I’ll be calling on several agencies in the coming months. These include:
Thimphu City Corporation to discuss improvement of existing roads, and their plans to construct biking paths;
Associations for operators of taxis, trucks and buses to explore means of promoting better awareness for bicycling safety;
But, most importantly, we, bikers, need to learn how to ride safely. We need to ensure that our bikes are roadworthy; that we always wear safety gear, especially helmets; that we undergo adequate training; that we ride in control; that we respect other forms of traffic; and that we obey traffic rules.
B-mobile’s strategy to market their cellular phone services in rural Bhutan is aggressive. In Sombaykha, for instance, where they introduced their services recently, B-mobile had a representative traveling from village to village dishing out free SIM cards and offering recharge vouchers at initial discounted rates. Our farmers were delighted. Everywhere the B-mobile representative went, farmers rushed to welcome him. In addition to giving free SIM cards, B-mobile automatically doubled the value of each farmer’s initial purchase of recharge vouchers, subject to a maximum purchase of Nu 500. This meant that if a farmer was willing spend Nu 500, she’d…
Many of you would have noticed that I was able to regularly update this blog during my recent visit to Sombaykha and Gakiling. And, that I was able to tweet about my experiences there. Romeo, a regular commentator, was sufficiently impressed to remark: It is indeed incredible that you are connected through out your trek and able to keep us informed of your whereabouts and also update your informative blog. How is this possible? Are you carrying your laptop along and that you are connected through satellite to the internet? Hasn’t Bhutan progressed in terms of communication? Yes, it…
On 7 January, Kuensel reported that: A 28 km farm road will connect Merak to Radhi, the nearest semi-urban centre to the gewog. On January 5, a simple groundbreaking ceremony of the farm road was conducted, which was attended by villagers of Khardung, Tokshingmang and Merak. The road will begin in Khardung, pass through Tokshingmang and end in Merak. The same article went on to quote Lyonpo Jigme Tshultim, who is the Speaker of the National Assembly and the MP of Radhi-Sakteng constituency, explaining that the new road would benefit many people and that “Merak is one place with…
Almost all your comments on “Visiting tourists” expressed concern about the Prime Minister’s executive order to prepare a blueprint to do away with the minimum tourist tariff. The poll asking, “Should the minimum tariff for tourists be removed?” drew a similar response with 82% saying “No!” Thank you for your comments. As promised, I’ll share your views with the government. Today, I wish to draw attention to another blueprint that the Prime Minister has ordered. In the same executive order (of 13 November 2009), the Tourism Council of Bhutan was directed to constitute: A cross sector implementation team consisting…
Guess how much an egg costs in Gakiling? Two ngultrums! Yes, farmers there are willing to sell their eggs for a pittance. And still they still don’t get any buyers. That just shows how little access they have to markets. “Yoed ba chin tsong sa med. May ba chin nyo sa med,” is how Ap Tshering Wangdi had described their predicament a few years ago. But some farmers have now decided to take matters into their own hands: they’ve decided to, collectively, sell their eggs in Thimphu. And, Rinzin, a young farmer, has volunteered to collect the local eggs…
I’m in Dorikha, totally exhausted. But I’ve had a hot stone bath, an extra large bowl of buckwheat noodle soup, copious amounts of o-ja (milk-sweetened tea), and a glass of Ani Gaki’s stiff ara. I’m sitting near a bukhari, typing, under the watchful gaze of three inquisitive nieces. And I’m already forgetting the pain of the last two days. Yesterday, after meeting the people and touring the village of Thangdokha, we decided to take a shortcut down from the remote village to Somchu, a tributary of Amochu. The “shortcut” isn’t a path; it’s lunging in an approximate direction downhill,…
Dramekha, Ngatsena and Thangdokha are three villages perched precariously on the steep slopes of a mountain opposite Dorokha, Denchukha and Dumtoe. Dramekha, Ngatsena and Thangdokha were, until recently, part of Mayona Gewog under Samtse. In 2007, these three villages and several equally remote villages of Dumtoe (Samtse) and Samar (Haa) were combined to form the kingdom’s newest gewog, Gakiling. Dramekha, Ngatsena and Thangdokha hold the disagreeable distinction of being among the poorest villages in Bhutan. They also hold the most unfortunate record of never having had a dzongdag visit them. That’s correct: no dzongdag has ever visited these villages,…
