Walk the talk!

December 1, 2009Posted inGovernment
The MP from Gangzur-Minjey Constituency questioned the Finance Minster this morning. His question was straightforward: DPT Government during the campaign has promised various developmental activities and till date not much has been delivered. People are grateful to the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh for the 100 billion financial assistance but our Government is yet to activate the 7 billion SDP grant. The people of Gangzur-Minjay Constituency would like to know the status of the fund release. The Finance Minister’s response was long and detailed, but confirmed that the MP was correct in asserting that, “…till date not…

Bringing GNH home

November 30, 2009Posted inGovernment13 Comments
GNH is synonymous with Bhutan. So it’s important for us to participate in and contribute to the growing international knowledge base on GNH. Still, I was a little concerned when, recently, our prime minister personally led a 24-member delegation to a GNH conference in Brazil. After all, it had been barely 10 weeks since he had visited Japan to tell them about GNH. Like some, I felt that the PM should have been in attendance when the nation’s highest legislative body was in session. Like others, I believed that he should have stayed behind to help victims of the…

Consulting tourists

November 5, 2009Posted inEconomy, Government
So the government has accepted and decided to implement McKinsey’s recommendations for the tourism sector. And it seems like we are paying a lot of money – almost 10 million dollars – to a consulting firm to tell us what we already know. Attracting high end visitors, promoting ecotourism, making Bhutan a destination for international meetings, easing ticketing, simplifying visa procedures, improving hotels, domestic air services, developing infrastructure, investing in marketing … these are more or less the same recommendations that a series of earlier consultants have made. More importantly, they are the same ones that ABTO and tour…

CDG concerns

October 26, 2009Posted inGovernment
Earlier this year, while many of us expressed concerns over the legality of the Constituency Development Grant, the Gelephu MP had decided to use the grant to provide free boat services to passengers crossing the Mao Khola. “We are not supposed to use the CDG for recurring expenses. But considering this case to be important and for the good of the people I have put up the proposal,” he had said. The CDG was used to ferry passengers across the Mao Khola. Yet, no one has questioned the use of a “development” grant for “recurrent” expenses. Not so far,…

Taxing cars

September 18, 2009Posted inGovernment, Towns29 Comments
So our government is thinking about increasing the taxes, duties and other fees levied on vehicles. I suppose that that, in some ways, is inevitable. The number of vehicles plying on our city roads has increased drastically. And it’s already difficult to find proper parking spaces. So, unless something serious is done about it, we would have to deal with many traffic problems, including regular traffic jams. But I wonder if our government has thought about the most obvious way to control traffic congestion: scrap the import quota system. Import quotas, which are given only to public servants, are…

Chhimi visits PM’s visits

September 14, 2009Posted inGovernment
Chhimi Dorji gets upset every time our prime minister travels abroad. It’s not that he’s against the head of the government visiting other countries. What bothers him is the number of people who see off and receive our PM. This photograph in Kuensel prompted Chhimi to send me this article.

Questioning change

September 10, 2009Posted inGovernment, Local Government
So the Cabinet has directed the Ministry of Agriculture to take over the Centenary Farmers’ Market. Apparently the Cabinet had decided that the Thimphu City Corporation was not managing the farmers’ market properly. The government’s intention is good. They want to ensure that the farmers’ market is well managed; that it is hygienic; and that it benefits our farmers. But the implications are not good. The government risks undermining local government. Accepted, the Thimphu City Corporation may not have done a good enough job managing the farmers’ market. But that is precisely why they need to be supported. And…

Relief Fund

August 29, 2009Posted inGovernment, Legislature2 Comments
“Disaster relief” generated a fair deal of debate. And most of it was good. Some of our readers (Sonam, Shogan and others) felt that the donations were made specifically for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the damages caused by the May 26 floods. And that, as such, the donations should not be used for relief purposes. One reader (Guest) pointed out that the restoration of damages caused by calamities is the government’s responsibility. And that kidu, which is His Majesty’s prerogative, should not be confused with restoration. But other readers (especially Linda Wangmo) felt that the reconstruction and rehabilitation…

Disaster relief

August 25, 2009Posted inGovernment, Legislature
On 21st July, the Ambassador of India to Bhutan presented Nu 100 million to our government. The money, a gift from the government and people of India, was to carry out relief works of the damages caused by the May 26th floods. Yesterday, the Ambassador of Thailand to Bhutan presented US$ 20,000 to our government, also to carry out relief works on the May 26th floods. The gifts reflect the sympathy of these countries towards us, and underscore the friendship and goodwill that we enjoy with them. We must put their money to good use. And the best possible…

Coping with disaster

August 13, 2009Posted inGovernment, Nature
On 27 July 1996, six boys from Begana went on a picnic to Tango. They lost their way in the thick forests, and despite the best efforts of the rescue teams – soldiers had literally combed the jungles – the students could not be found. 12 harrowing days later, police stumbled upon four of the boys in the forests above Punakha. The mountains had, by then, claimed the lives of two boys. That shocking incident led Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, who was the education secretary at that time, to formalize, improve and expand scouting in Bhutan. He believed that the…

Our debt

July 23, 2009Posted inEconomy, Government
Yesterday, the Finance Minister reported that Bhutan’s total debt outstanding is Nu 35,109.3 million. That’s about 56.7% of our GDP. In other words, every citizen owes Nu 64,000 of that debt. Or, assuming the average family has five members, every family would owe Nu 320,000. The good news is that most of that debt – about 61 per cent – consists of hydropower construction loans. These loans, we are told, will pay for themselves, and generate huge revenues for the government. Good. But, let’s not completely ignore the risks. An overdependence on one source of revenue – in this…

Poor planning

July 23, 2009Posted inGovernment
Yesterday, the National Assembly approved the revised budget estimates for the financial year 2008-09. Like the previous year (see earlier entry), the last financial year also saw a huge difference between the approved budget and the most recent revised estimates. This time, however, the difference was completely on the other side of the spectrum – the government expects to spend much, much more than what had been approved. How much more? The total outlay for 2008-09 approved by the National Assembly last year was Nu 21,096.281 million. The government’s revised estimate for 2008-09 is a whopping Nu 25,519.695. That’s…

Planning implementation

July 21, 2009Posted inGovernment2 Comments
Today the finance minister presented the National Budget bill for the year 2009 – 2010. I’ll post a few entries on the status of our kingdom’s finances in the next couple of days. Following the Finance Minister’s presentation, the National Assembly discussed the first part of the report, the annual financial statement for the financial year 2007 – 08. The budget for that year was prepared by the previous government. And, most of it was implemented by the interim government. The current government was in office for the final three months of that financial year. The total approved outlay…

Dangerous nonsense

July 10, 2009Posted inGovernment, Legislature
The first item on the National Council’s agenda today is Question Time. And they’ve summoned our finance minister to answer, in person, questions that have been sent to him ten days ago. I predict that our finance minister will not show up at the National Council. He will not respect their summons. Yes, we are, in many ways, still transitioning to a democracy, hopefully to one that’s honest, robust and vibrant. But, this brinkmanship playing out between our government and the Council cannot be blamed on transition. What we are witnessing is the lack of decency, and the absolute…

Checking for our government

July 4, 2009Posted inGovernment
The previous poll, on our government’s performance, drew a record number of voters. 409 of you participated in the poll. And, 206 of you said that our government’s performance so far has been “good” or “very good”. That’s an impressive 64% approval rating. Not bad, indeed. But some of you were suspect. Which promoted one reader, freewill, to point out “…that some DPT fanatics are corrupting you poll results by voting 50 to 100 times by one person. I think your website should be set up in such a way only one person from one ip can vote once…