Tshering Tobgay

McKinsey poll

September 29, 2010Government

During the last session of the Parliament I asked the prime minister to explain what Mckinsey were doing that couldn’t be done by our own civil servants. Subsequently, I ran a poll that asked you “Are civil servants impressed with McKinsey’s work?” Of the 569 who took the poll, 408 (or 72%) replied with a emphatic “No!” while only 72 (or 12%) said “Yes!” The others (16%) answered “I don’t know.” Our poll results are straightforward: An overwhelming majority of you are not impressed with McKinsey’s performance. That is terrible, especially if, as I suspect, many of you who…

Lottery scam

September 29, 2010Media5 Comments

An excellent piece of investigative journalism, about Bhutan’s role in the Indian lottery scam, by Business Bhutan’s Tenzing Lamsang, that screams for answers.

ECB’s right

September 28, 2010Local Government

The Election Commission of Bhutan is correct in cautioning the government that the local government elections would be incomplete and unconstitutional if those elections were conducted without first finalizing the yenlag thromdes (satellite towns). Yenlag thromdes have still not been identified for the Dzongkhags. So holding the local government elections now would, as ECB maintains, result in incomplete Dzongkhag Tshogdus, and risk violating Article 21 Section 9 of the Constitution according to which: The Dzongkhag Tshogdu shall comprise: (a) The Gup and Mangmi as the two elected representatives from each Gewog; (b) One elected representative from that Dzongkhag Thromde;…

Kilu music

September 26, 2010Miscellaneous

The banner features Kilu students singing Michael Jackson's "Heal the World" during Radio Valley's second food festival at Thimphu's clock tower square yesterday.

Recalling 21/9

September 22, 2010Legislature

Yesterday, we marked the first anniversary of the 21st September earthquake. It gave us reason to recall the widespread destruction that the earthquake unleashed on the Eastern parts of our country, and the untold sufferings that our people had to endure. It also gave us reason to celebrate the indomitable spirit of the Bhutanese people. During the past year, thousands of homes and countless lives have been rebuilt, as people from all walks of life – famers, civil servants, the clergy, the business community, armed forces, students, and civil society – throughout our kingdom, came together and joined the…

I’m back!

September 21, 2010Miscellaneous

I’m back. And it feels good to be back home. My broken jaw has been corrected by way of a metal plate that now holds the fracture in place. But my jaws have also been wired shut to allow the damaged bones to heal properly. So till the wires come off – which will be in about five weeks – I’ll be speaking through clenched teeth. And subsisting on a full liquid diet. I’m grateful for the many emails and messages that I received during the last two weeks. Your good wishes, support and prayers have helped me recover…

About fines

September 7, 2010Government, Legislature

I’m impressed at the government’s readiness to abide by the law. Bhutan Today (whose website has been woefully inadequate) had recently reported that: The prime minister has ordered the information and communication ministry to pay about Nu 2.3 million in penalty for not following the environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures in the construction of the Bathpalathang airstrip in Bumthang. But I’m not impressed at the prime minister’s cavalier disregard for the basic principles of accountability when he added that: … the fine will have to be levied even if it means paying from one pocket to another. I wonder…

Tour of the Dragon

September 5, 2010Miscellaneous15 Comments

Twenty-five bikers took part in the inaugural Tour of the Dragon yesterday. The Dragon, a one-day bicycle ride from Bumthang to Thimphu, crosses 4 passes, all of them over 3,000 meters, and covers 268 kilometers through five dzongkhags. The breathtaking route offers an elevation gain of 4,000 meters, a whopping half of which is on the final ascent from Wangdiphodrang bridge to Dochula. The Tour of the Dragon must be one of the more beautiful one-day bike rides in the world. It’s probably one of the most difficult ones too. The official records are not yet out, but more…

Zoom on zoom

August 30, 2010Civil society

Quick updates on my previous post: I’ve uploaded some photographs in the gallery. Most of the officials who were invited to the art festival never did show up … But, many other visitors turned up, especially on the final evening … And, the prime minister made an unscheduled and unannounced visit to the closing ceremony of the festival. I applaud our PM.

Zoom on garbage

August 27, 2010Civil society, Nature11 Comments

Are you an important government official? If so, did you receive an invitation to attend Young Zoom on Garbage, the art festival currently on at the Clock Tower Square? And if so, did you make it to the festival? Chances are that you didn’t. Young Zoom on Garbage is meant to be an innovative and powerful way of drawing much needed attention to a very serious problem. So the organizers sent out more than 200 invitations for yesterday’s opening function. But only a handful showed up: barely 10% of the invitees were able to attend the inaugural ceremonies. That’s…

Testing ourselves

August 25, 2010Local Government

The ECB’s “functional literacy and skills test” for candidates to local government elections is comprehensive. Aspiring candidates will have to take a written test to determine their computational, analytical, managerial and correspondence skills. And they will have to undergo an oral test to demonstrate their reading, writing and speaking skills. ECB’s diligence will, no doubt, ensure that only the most competent can stand for the local government elections. And, that must be good. But I’ve been wondering: how many of our current MPs would have passed the functional literacy and skills test? I don’t know about my colleagues in…

Crushing stone

August 21, 2010Government

Earlier this year, in “Mining our business”, I’d explained why it would be unlawful for the government to permit L&T, Gammon and HCC to operate stone quarries for the Punatshangchhu hydropower project. I don’t know for sure, but it looks like L&T, Gammon and HCC are now not operating the stone quarries. That is very good. But what I do know for sure is that L&T, Gammon and HCC have each established stone crushing plants. That is bad. And that is illegal. Stone crushing is a specific business, one that requires a separate industrial license, and one that is…

Good job

August 18, 2010Government9 Comments

The prime minister, in his State of the Nation address, on employment: I am pleased to report to the Hon’ble Members that a total of 320,900 are now employed. This shows that 96.69% of our workforce is employed leaving an unemployment rate of 3.3%, marking a downward movement for the first time in recent years. This indicates very clearly that this government is well on track to achieve its ambitious target of 2.5% unemployment rate in the next three years with a huge labour market in the making. This is good news. After all, unemployment, especially youth unemployment, is…

Lost

August 18, 2010Miscellaneous

It’s been almost two weeks since my last entry. Some people have asked me why I’ve been quiet. On the other hand, “Linda Wangmo”, a regular reader, scolded me for spending too much time bicycling. “Please do not waste time on our OLs blog….” advised Linda, “our dear OL is busy Bicycling and bicycling is every thing to him. It is now very clear that he will have no time for his blog and he would have no time to say what the government does….” Yes, I have been cycling a lot recently, especially during the weekends. Last Saturday,…

Taking people for a ride

August 5, 2010Legislature

Bhutan Today has quoted MP Ugyen Wangdi, the National Assembly’s legislative committee chairman, of accusing the opposition leader of trying to “hoodwink the people of Bhutan” and taking “the people of Bhutan for a ride”. He was referring to my continuing protests over the government’s unlawful tax increases. Obviously, Dasho Ugyen is entitled to his views. And, yes, I’ll defend his right to express them. But I’m surprised at his views. After all, he’s the very MP who tabled the motion in Parliament to amend the provisions of the Sales Tax, Customs and Excise Act 2000 that he considered…