In the past close to two months, I have been up to my eyeballs in work – Rotary work. As a result, I have not been able to update my Blog – leading some friends around the glob to enquire if I was keeping good health. But mid morning yesterday I decided to take a break from work and headed out to a small restaurant in Changangkha, next to Khang Residency called Shyam’s Fried Chicken. They serve absolutely succulent fried chicken. My personal favorite is their Bucket Chicken Boneless. “Small” is how they rate their smallest serving - but the portion is big enough to satiate a horse.
There was utter chaos surrounding my order: I ordered my favorite Bucket Chicken Boneless Small. The girl said that they ran out of it. I then settled for their Chicken Drumstick. But what I got served was something else – I said that I had ordered Drumstick. In the meantime another girl chipped in to say that they are now able to serve me my favorite Bucket Chicken Boneless Small. I said GREAT! Cancel the Drumstick and get me my favorite Bucket Chicken Boneless Small. But when my order was filled, it turns out that what I got was - Chicken Drumstick! Finally in exasperation, the man behind the counter stepped in and said; "Sir you will get your Bucket Chicken Boneless Small". He firmly ordered the girls to clear everything away and serve me my favorite Bucket Chicken Boneless. In all the confusion I had gone and subconsciously ordered a fizzy drink – my first in about 2 decades.
While I waited and cooled my heels, my cousin whom I hadn’t seen in the past 3 years walked in. It was evident that he was happy to see me, as I was, to see him. He then brought up the subject that is currently in vogue: suspension of export of boulders.
I am intrigued. A similar case – concerning the suspension of operation of mobile sawmills came to mind. Over two weeks back, a friend came to me lamenting that the Department of Forestry & Park Services (DF&PS) had suspended the operation of mobile sawmills. The reason? The Department has charged that these mobile sawmills were engaged in sawing illegal timber.
I was aghast! If the mobile saw millers were sawing illegal timber, it was obviously because of the existence of illegal timer. The mobile saw millers have not been charged with the responsibility to be vigilant of the illegal timbers. Their licenses authorize them to saw timber, not take on the oversight responsibilities. The onus is on the DF&PS to control illegal timber. The Department cannot shift the blame on the saw millers – for a failure that is clearly on their part. If they had been vigilant, if they had effective monitoring system in place, if their stewardship were more competent, if their enforcement were better, there should not be incidences of illegal timber. If there are, they have failed in their duties. But alas, the Barababus do not see it that way. For them, they would rather take the easy way out - ban an efficient and effective tool of the trade, rather than bring themselves to put extra effort to be vigilant, and take on the onus of doing their job.
Even in the recent boulder case, it is most likely that it proliferated to this extent because of the failure of the many government machineries that are responsible to monitor and regulate the business. They simply did not do their job. They framed the rules and promptly forgot to enforce them.
I recall that in the early 80’s when I was forced to launch a covert investigation into the affairs of the Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB), I discovered, in the process of my investigation that the only Weigh-bridge in Phuentsholing those days had been non-operational for years. On further probing, it turns out that the machine worked only for half a day - on the day of its commissioning. Thereafter, for years, the machine sat idle. Thus, while there was a rule in place that disallowed a truck to carry more than 5 tons of load, the truckers merrily carried whatever they pleased - because there was no way of validating any of the weights: the gross weight, the tare weight and the net weight. Why the Weigh-bridge remained dysfunctional for years, and yet churned out Weighment Slips, is another story to be told another day.
I am told Gelephu does not have a Weigh-bridge, despite millions of tons of boulder being exported from that region. I am not sure if Phuentsholing has one either.
While private businesses need licenses to operate business and work towards making profit so that they can contribute to nation building through contribution of taxes, the civil servants are not required to be issued licenses defining their responsibilities and obligations to earn their keep. It is perhaps this lacuna that contributes to the persistent mindlessness of the civil servants and their repeated failure to monitor, regulate and enforce the many laws, rules and regulations that are already in place. The situation endures because even the RAA and the ACC, including the RCSC all have failed to fix accountability on the erring civil servants. These watchdog organizations have always chosen to fix the blame entirely on the private businesses, while failing to bring to book the other partners in the crime: the non-performing civil servants.
Time is ripe that we learn to look at the causes of why things go wrong. A wrong already done is beyond fixing – but we can certainly fix the causes where the wrongs originate.
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