An Apocalypse Waiting To Happen

It has been close to two decades since I have been attempting to alert the leaders who have the power, and the authority - about the potential risk posed by the location of vehicle fueling stations within or, in close proximity, of human dwellings. I have been trying to encourage authorities to consider relocating Thimphu’s fueling stations to safer and less risky locations – away from centers of human habitat.

Thus far, my concerns have been nothing more than a call in the wilderness. But I would like to emphasis once again that the dangers are real – it is an all-consuming inferno waiting to break out.

One of Thimphu's six vehicle fueling stations

To be fair, according to the following article from where the above image was extracted, it appears that Thimphu Thromde was not entirely unaware of the dangers posed by the perilous location of Thimphu's vehicle fueling stations. However, it appears that public safety and human life and property were considered to be of lesser value than some other loftier considerations, due to which the case never saw the light of day:

https://thebhutanese.bt/thimphu-thromde-determined-to-acquire-bod-land-and-relocate-fuel-depot/#google_vignette

Not a single day passes by without the news of a calamity happening some place around the globe. There are wars breaking out - there are news of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, plummeting aircrafts, of raging wild fires, flooding and of tornadoes and cyclones devastating human dwellings and properties on a daily basis.

In the first four months of this year alone, Bhutan has recorded 25 forest fires across the country, with Thimphu topping the list. Some of the fires have blazed on for weeks, destroying many hundred acres of prime forest land. Now we are warned of the likelihood of GLOF, caused by Thorthorme lake and, perhaps, many other lakes that are quietly on the swell, caused by glaciers melting at an alarming rate!

People tell me that it is a sign that God is punishing the human race for electing a lunatic like Donald Trump to power. Jokes aside, for me, it is a sign that we are paying for our irresponsibility - nature is rebelling against us for what we did to it - it is clear that it is no longer willing to be tolerant.

There is no gainsaying that human race’s acts of recklessness are beyond redemption. The ferocity and the regularity with which nature is dealing us its displeasure tells us that we are incapable of building any effective fortifications against it’s power and intent – all that we can do is try and give ourselves a modicum of chance – by trying to forestall that which is inevitable - for as long as we are able to.

Trust me, the mind can see what the eyes can’t! REMEMBER, to have to arrive at a point when leaders have to say sorry means that we are already too late.

Redefining GNH: Lump The 9 Domains And 33 Indicators - Apply Common Sense

Sangay Dema, whoever she is, spoke my mind. The following is what she wrote in yesterday’s Kuensel:

Exactly my sentiments!!!

I have said this for years – that the Bhutanese society is not a thinking society. Our whole focus is in sounding good and looking good. We excel in the art of verbosity – but we are simply INCAPABLE OF THINKING. As incredible as it may sound, we simply do not bother what may be the consequences of our thoughtless actions.

In her above article in the Kuensel Sangay Dema quotes four examples of our mindlessness - I can give you few thousand examples how unthinking we are. But I know you do not have the time to read through them all. Likewise, I do not have the time to write them all out. But just to give you an example of our mindlessness, I leave you with the following:

A year or two back, the CSO (Civil Society Organization) Authority came up with a rule that required every registered CSO to maintain a captive fund of Nu.4.0 million in the form of a Term Deposit in a bank.

I was aghast! I mean, what kind of idiots could have thought up a scheme that would make it mandatory for a CSO/NGO to keep Nu.4.0 million locked up in a bank – when the fund could be used to do good in the society – to help build shelters for the poor and the destitute; to finance the education of few rural children, to help farmers protect their crops from wildlife predation, to provide safe drinking water and improve sanitation?

I mean, don’t they know that the money that does not serve a useful purpose is useless money?

In any event, what makes the CSO Authority think that Bhutanese CSOs are so rich that they have Nu.4.0 million of idle money to be left languishing in a bank vault???? 😡

Kuche, please GROW UP!!!!

March of History: Flight Information Display System (FIDS) at Paro International Airport

History records that construction of Paro International Airport was completed and inaugurated in the year 1968.

Bhutan’s National Flag Carrier - Druk Air - was created in 1981 - primarily as a bold statement of nationhood - but with commercial functions.

Exactly 15 years later, Paro International Airport began to function as the country’s one and only international airport - upon Druk Air starting to operate its commercial flights beginning February of 1983 - between Paro and Calcutta, India.

Sadly, even after 56 years of its establishment, Paro International Airport remained without a Flight Information Display System (FIDS) - thus forcing me to blog about the shameful state of affairs on Sunday, June 9, 2024 under the title “The World’s Most Inhospitable International Airport”. The blog can be read at:

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2024/06/the-worlds-most-inhospitable.html

Subsequently, sometime in August of 2024, the Department of Air Transport announced the installation of the much-needed Flight Information Display System (FIDS) with the following notification:

The announcement of the epochal event of the birth of FIDS at Paro International Airport during August, 2024

My sense of relief that a useful service has finally been put in place after over half a century, was short-lived. On 1st March, 2025, the display of information on the Paro International Airport’s FIDS read as follows:

The information displayed on the top right hand of the FIDS shows that the system has not been updated since 19th February, 2025.

Instead of serving a useful purpose, this FIDS has the potential to misinform and mislead. So, perhaps we are better off without it!

Time To Hit The RESET & RESTORE Button!

Like everybody else, I would have loved to attend the recently concluded Bhutan Innovation Forum (BIF) held at the plush Doongkar Dzong, in Pangbesa, Paro. Regardless, thanks to a number of friends around the world who were also tuned-in into the upcoming event that had the promise of being singularly unique, upon being directed to meet me, I had the opportunity to interact with three of the movers and shakers who came to participate in the Forum.

It was amazing! The list of speakers and participants to the event read like the world’s Who’s Who. It was truly a star-spangled event. I cannot imagine what, and how long, it would have taken to put together a congregation at this level and scale.

In genuine wonderment, I sought the view of one of the participants: what do you think is the reason behind why a galaxy of luminaries came thronging to miniscule Bhutan? He responded by saying that given his limited exposure to Bhutan, he can think of only two reasons:

• Relentless hard work, personal charm and charisma of the King; and
• Brand Bhutan

HIS MAJESTY THE KING

No one is in any doubt that His Majesty has done, and continues to do, what is His penultimate responsibility – to secure and safeguard the Kingdom of Bhutan. As the country’s sovereign, He knows that He is the absolute last stop and that giving up is not in His job description – even if He has to walk the journey alone and without help from those around Him.

We have all seen that in the recent past, His Majesty has been running from pillar to post – drumming up support for the country as a whole and GMC in particular. It is my belief that the recent congregation of world luminaries at the BIF in Paro is, to a very large extent, the result of His Majesty’s relentless hard work and personal interactions with the very best around the world.

BRAND BHUTAN

The mysteriously alluring concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) came to be identified as THE Brand Bhutan since the late 1970s. The intrigue and appeal of the concept of GNH – a catchphrase that mystified and enamored world leaders for the past many decades was supposedly propagated for the first time by His Majesty the IVth Druk Gyalpo in Bombay, India - on his way back from the 6th Non-Aligned Meeting held in Havana, Cuba during September of 1979. Since then, Bhutan began to draw attention, and sympathy, and support - as a nation that gifted the human society a mindful developmental paradigm to aspire for. The Brand Bhutan was so powerful that when I halted in New York on my return journey from attending a conference in Mexico in 1983, I was introduced to a high ranking official of the US government. I asked him if he knew Bhutan - he said YES! When asked where it was located, his answer: in the Bahamas. He was clueless about Bhutan and yet, he had heard of us!

The second boost to Brand Bhutan came when Prime Minister H E Tshering Tobgay, during a TED Talk in Vancouver, Canada in April of 2016,  declared:

“…. Actually, that is not quite accurate ---- Bhutan is not carbon neutral – Bhutan is carbon negative”.

That declaration caught the fancy of the global community and we came to be known as the world’s only carbon negative country - further pushing Brand Bhutan one notch up the popularity ladder!

https://www.google.com/search?q=bhutan+prime+minister+in+ted+talk+in+vancouver&oq=Bhutan+Prime+Minister+in+TED+Talk+in+Vancuu&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgBECEYChigATIGCAAQRRg5MgkIARAhGAoYoAEyCQgCECEYChigATIJCAMQIRgKGKAB0gEKMTczNjFqMGoxNagCCLACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:8452ea23,vid:7Lc_dlVrg5M,st:0

Thinkers and leaders around the world believe that we have a powerful BRAND BHUTAN. They think, as I do, that we do not need to reinvent Brand Bhutan.

All that we need to do is ensure that we do nothing to jeopardize it – we need to make sure that it remains resounding for all times to come – we must do all we can to protect it from being vandalized through mindless policies and destructive undertakings. We need to ensure that we are mindful about the environment … and that human happiness is at the core of whatever we do. 

Pray, tell me, how difficult can it be – to stoke the fire that is already ablaze?

Sadly, we may be losing it already.

It is an indication of waning morality, if any were needed, when we are told that it has been possible for guides and drivers and policemen and DeSuups - to steal hundreds of millions from abodes of Gods …. when we are told that tourists have been robbed and cheated … when tour operators did not receive their just dues … when tour guides are underpaid and ill-treated and denied human dignity …. when the government is deprived of taxes .... when our foreign exchange reserve is not improving because, as mandated by the new rules, only the SDF is required to be deposited with the government.

No one may deny that these immoral behaviors are new to our long-established BRAND BHUTAN. We have hardly ever heard of incidences of such immorality before.

Perhaps it is still not too late to RESET and RESTORE - please consider it.

Looking At Nu.1 Billion With Unabashed Skepticism

Tell me, how often does it happen that our government finds itself in an inviable situation of plentiful? From all accounts, our PDP government seems to have whole lot of dough that they hope to pass around – except that dispensing them does not seem to be as smooth sailing as they would like.

Take for instance the Nu.1 Billion that they supposedly earmarked for sending “deserving” students to study abroad. To their disappointment, it would appear that the announcement has been received with anything but unabashed skepticism.

Not impressed for all the right reasons!

I agree with Kuenga Gyeltshen – the general perception is that the program will end up supporting the influential and the well-connected – few, if any, believe that it will serve the intended purpose.

I have a suggestion, if I may: keep it simple and straightforward - allocate the fund to improve our School Feeding Program. It will benefit in three meaningful ways:

• School authorities will finally be able to afford to provide safe, wholesome and nutritious meals to their students;
• It will be a windfall for the struggling rural farmers who run from pillar to post in an effort to sell their farm produce. Injection of Nu.1.00 billion into the school feeding program will go to create a captive market so vast that the farmers will begin to look at farm work with renewed hope – it will be a game changer; and
• In the agriculture sector, the PDP would have done something that no other government has done in our living memory!

In my capacity as the Club Secretary of the Rotary Club of Thimphu – in 2018, I began implementing PHASE-I of the 3-years, $1.00 million Safe Drinking Water to Schools project, funded by the Disaster Aid Australia. That is when I came face to face with the reality of the School Feeding Program implemented by the then SHND of the Ministry of Education.

It became apparent to me that school feeding program could be one huge market for our rural farmers. But everywhere I went I was faced with one perennial grievance: that Bhutanese farm produces were way too expensive for the school authorities to afford.

I started thinking about this weird situation: How can it be that farm produces grown within the country can be said to be more expensive than those that are imported from growers located few thousand KMs away?

It was not long before I realized what the real problem was: It was not that the Bhutanese farm produces where too expensive – the real problem was in the flawed thinking. It was not that our farm produce was unaffordable - but that the government's allocated stipend was pitifully inadequate!

The answer: increase the stipend to a respectable amount and see what happens.

• Our school children will begin to get safe, nutritious and wholesome food;
• A huge in-country market will open up for our rural farmers.

Recently, Sangay Thinley, Deputy Chief Economic Development & Marketing Officer, of the DAMC initiated the formation of an agriculture marketing network that he calls “Network of Farm Produce Aggregators”. As of now, they are active in few select Dzongkhags. It could be expanded to other Dzongkhags across the country.

The Ministry of Education and the school authorities could work with this Network to arrange uninterrupted supply of items of food to schools – home grown farm produces that are freshly harvested, less infested with chemicals, safe, and at prices that are within the bounds of their enhanced stipend. The network of cold storage facilities that was created by the past government can be used to store food - to be supplied during off seasons.

According to a Kuensel report published in January of 2024, numbers are quoted as follows:

• As of end 2023, the number of students receiving free meals stood at 88,784.
• Stipend to each of these students is reported at a miserly Nu.1,500.00 per month per student.

Do your mathematics - redirecting Nu.1.00 billion to supplement school feeding program will more than quadruple the stipend amount to benefit school children. In the process – school authorities will find that Bhutanese farmers’ produces are, after all, AFFORDABLE!

Even better, the PDP will be the first government who would have done something no other past governments have ever done in the agriculture sector – transcend the talk and chose to do something tangible on the ground!

Misconceptions, Dogmas and Flogging The Dead Horse

Thank God! it seems like the mainstream media in the country is finally waking up to the despair that Bhutan’s tourism industry is currently going through. That said, I suspect that they are still not clear as to what really is the problem with the country’s most vital industry. The following article in the Kuensel is proof that they need better grounding in the subject.

Calling a sheep a goat

The reporter chooses to use the term “travel agent” while what he actually would have meant is “tour operator”. I doubt that we have any single “travel agent” in Bhutan. Being not of the industry, it is acceptable that he is confusing a goat for a sheep …. But what is tragic is that he suggests that only travel agents in Phuentsholing are impacted. What is true is that the impact is at the national level – not restricted to Phuentsholing only.

Talking of which, I would like to repeat my word of caution once again: Act without delay in correcting the policy misadventures that have been committed in the tourism industry. That small window of opportunity is on the verge of being closed forever. The acts of immorality – the likes of the scam in Taktsang will seem like a half-hearted joke - should we fail to extricate the industry from its current state of stupor. Remember, when the people’s sense of honor and valor are impounded – when the main streets are barricaded - people will begin to resort to walking the lanes and the by-lanes.

--------------------

Now, finally, here is someone who has his head screwed-on on the right place!!! Do I dare hope that the Bhutanese people will finally be liberated from the oppressive and illogical dogmas of the pseudo religious lot?

Meating the demand through internal production!

If we accept that we are born meat-eaters, we have a fundamental right to gather food that is God assigned. Food gathering – any food – should be our birth-right! Thus, it is correct that we should be allowed to produce our own meat – safe meat.

Talking of which, it is high time that we do away with this misbegotten rule that imposes a ban on the sale of meat during certain months. We all know that what is achieved by this senseless rule is exactly the opposite of what is intended. And yet, this has gone on for decades. Because of the impending ban, animals are slaughtered many weeks and months before their time. Additionally, since meat becomes unavailable, people resort to stocking meat for long periods of time - a practice that is both medically unsafe and financially burdensome.

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Here we are at it yet again – forever catching the bull by its tail – flogging the same old dead horse!!! I wonder if we will ever be rid of this delusional perception that we can be a player on the world stage? 

Think: If a produce grown few thousand KMs away can be sold cheaper in Bhutan than that which we grow at home, how can you hope to be competitive in the global arena?

Let us admit:

~  We do not have the scale;

~  We have a confused goal – we are uncertain what we want:

    food self-sufficiency or fruit self-sufficiency;

~  Our competition talks of millions of hectors of plantation –

    we talk of few thousand acres spread over mountain tops

    and plunging ravines;

~  We are landlocked – bulk movement of goods is impossible;

~  We are too far removed from the market – our transportation

    cost is too high to be competitive in far-flung markets;

~  Our sense of costing is topsy-turvy;

~  Our government focuses on production - while farmers pine

    for help in marketing and distribution;

~  Worst of all - we are blind to the opportunities that stare in our

    faces at home, while we are starry-eyed in the pursuit of

    none-existent markets beyond borders;

~  The government aspires the agriculture sector to contribute to

    our vision of US$5 billion GDP by 2029 through exports

    of commodities – while a more realistic and attainable

    approach would be to aspire to realize import substitution - at

    double that sum.

It is sad – but that is the way the cookie crumbles. If it helps, I would like to leave you with a beautiful documentary titled “The Economics of Happiness” – we find more than a passing spot in the film. Even better – it makes sense in our situation.

https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the-economics-of-happiness/

Please watch it to the end – it will take your breath away!

On Again, Off Again

This is becoming a habit with the PDP government.

During March of 2012, the DPT government had imposed a ban on import of vehicles - for obvious reasons.

Two years later, the PDP government lifted the ban - during July of 2014.

Then came the DNT government. Yet again, the vehicle ban was reintroduced ….. as of August, 2022.

As per Section 8 of Article 15 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), having won the majority of seats (30 seats) in the 4th National Assembly Elections, 2023-2024 is declared as the Ruling Party.

Promptly, earlier this month - on the 18th of August, 2024, the vehicle ban was yet again lifted by the PDP.

In all provability, we will likely see the Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP) form the next government. And, true to tradition, they will once again impose a ban on import of vehicles.

And, God willing, the PDP will once again be reinstated as the ruling party for the third time - in order that they can, yet again, lift the ban on import of vehicles!

The Edifice of Disgrace

As a Khengpa (a person belonging to the Kheng region of Central Bhutan) I cannot help but feel a sense of affinity towards anything even remotely related to Kheng. Thus, when it was announced that the Bhutan Bird Festival would be held once again - after having been suspended for the past three years due to COVID-19 pandemic, I decided that I want to attend the festival - if for nothing, at least to add to the number. Even better, my two American guests also agreed to attend the festival - all three days - from 13th to 15th November, 2023.

First thing upon arrival at Tingtibi on the evening of 12th November, 2023, I headed straight for the festival grounds - to check things out. I did not get past the Welcome Gate - one look at the Gate and I was dumbstruck - my heart sank and I remained rooted to the ground where I stood - incredulous at what I saw plastered all over the Gate.

There were a total of 10 images of different birds and animals depicted on the vertical and horizontal posts and beam of the Gate. To my absolute horror, 5 of the images – or 50% of the total images portrayed - were images of birds and animals that are TOTALLY NON-EXISTANT in the country - let alone Zhemgang District!!!

How is it that any sane person can be capable of such incredibly shoddy work - particularly among people who pride themselves as sane and with eyes wide open? I mean such atrocious blunders can be attributed to mindless zombies - not to educated people with weighty responsibilities. I cannot believe that the whole of Zhemgang Dzongkhag does not have people who can differentiate an African Elephant from that of an Asian one; a Pallas’s Fish Eagle from that of the Bald Eagle; A Black-necked Crane from that of a Red-headed Crane? Where were the Forestry officials in the Dzongkhag? It is fantastic that they do not know the commonest of the most common of the country’s birds and animals.

Waste of precious time notwithstanding, it was so shameful - even worst, it was soooooo telling on the Bhutanese character - clueless and yet adamantly moronic; unwilling to put one’s best foot forward, and yet vehement that rest of the world is steeped in mediocrity!

One has to wonder: Will the Bhutanese people ever improve?

The Case Of The Rotting Potatoes

In recent times, there have been repeated reports of hundreds of tons of farmers’ potatoes rotting in the auction/storage yards of the Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB) in Phuentsholing.

WHY?

Why are the potatoes allowed to rot?

Hundreds of tons of potatoes are allowed to go to waste - through rotting!

Photo courtesy of BBS

In the aftermath of the COVID-19, the government was encouraged to set up a network of cold storage facilities across the country so that surplus or unsold food produces could be stored safely – for release during times of shortage.

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/search?q=Cold+storage

From what I know ---- in the last year or so Bhutan has set up a substantial number of cold storage facilities at strategic locations spread across the length and breadth of the country. Then why are they NOT used? What is the reason?

Are the facilities none-functional? Or, are the farmers too greedy?

There is a need to get to the bottom of this!

Bhutan’s Culture of Mulling: Part II

It has been my experience that it is not in the character of the Bhutanese people to act with speed and precision. The sloth-like pace at which we act would explain why progress in this country is lethargic at best. For the bosses at the helm of things, it does not really matter - the dogs can continue to bark  - the caravan will move all the same. They are not the leaders - they are merely the seat warmers. Corporations like DrukAir can tumble and rot away, in the process causing misery to one and sundry - there is no one to whom they need be accountable - it is not money out of, or into, their pockets. If more is needed, there is the public exchequer into which they can dip their hands at will. Small wonder then that His Majesty the King speaks of our wanning Ngar! For proof, read the following:

Shingkhar-Gorgan Road

The Shingkhar-Gorgan road construction debate went on for close to one and a half decades. The law is clear why it cannot be done - and yet three successive governments “mulled” over the matter for years. After having “mulled” over the issue for close to 15 years, the issue of the road seems to be finally put to rest when, on 29th January, 2020, DNT’s Works & Human Settlement Minister Dorji Tshering said;

“Shingkhar-Gorgan road won’t materialize. Since 2008, there were 15 discussions on the topic. It is stale.”

The Timbre-less Timber

It was in 1979 that Bhutan decided to ban the commercial harvesting of our abundant timber stock. There was very good reason for it. But sadly, the forests remained locked-up and rotting for close to half a century, thereafter. Only last month the DNT government woke up to the realization that there was money to be had from harvesting our timber that remained rotting in the forests. The government has now lifted the ban - but it took 44 years to do so!

Vehicle Quota System

The Royal Audit Authority (RAA) reported rampant misuse of vehicle quota system. They found that the state lost Nu.3.00 billion in tax revenue during a five-year period under review, in addition to turning certain class of public workers into crooks and lawbreakers. The RAA also reported that the quota system contributed to “exhaustion of the country’s foreign currency reserves and increase in import of vehicle, spare parts and fuel”.

The Vehicle Quota System was introduced during mid 1970s. The country spent “mulling” over the issue for close to half a century before the DNT government thankfully axed the quota system in 2022. Today if you ask me very, very few have any understanding as to why the quota system was introduced - you may be surprised the reason behind it.

Alas, true to form, this has yet been another case of a good intention gone terribly sour. Sadly, there are already scavengers lining up the corridor - waiting to pick up the eventual carcasses that are bound to come tumbling out of the goody bag of the government - whoever is next in line.

Duty Free Quota System

I am not sure when this came into being. But it was many decades before the government saw evil in the system. It came to light that some supposedly respectable members of the society were merrily peddling their Duty Free entitlements in the open market. It not only contributed to depletion in foreign exchange reserve through import of such silly things as chocolates and perfumes and cigarettes etc., it bred whole lot of unethical people in the government/public sector. Thankfully the DNT government removed this most vile practice - late last year.

Hydropower Projects

After I spent close to two decades hollering to go easy on the mismanaged hydropower initiatives, it was not until in 2018 that finally the Hydropower Committee recommended going slow and smart on hydro projects - that is 44 years after the ill-fated hydropower initiative that first began in 1974.

In the next year (2019) – that is 45 years after deciding to systematically desecrate our entire river basins, the DNT government announced that two of our 7 river systems will remain hydropower free for all times - Chamkharchu in Central Bhutan and Amochu in the West-South of the country. The rest of the river systems - Wangchu, Punatsangchu, Magdechu, Kurichu, Drangmechu, Gamrichu and Nyera Amachu - all of them being fair game for hydropower. Mercifully, in recent years, the hydropower as a technology of choice for electricity generation has lost its sheen – hopefully we are now safe.

Freedom of Speech

In 2008 the Constitution granted every Bhutanese the freedom of speech - among others. Yet, year after year the media and individuals continued to be muzzled of the freedom of speech - some even lost their jobs because they had a mouth. It was only after fifteen (15) years that a sitting Prime Minister had the courage to reiterate the Constitutional provisions. Prime Minister Dr. Lotay Tshering announced on 28 of January, 2023 that:

“Sharing information with the media is our responsibility. By sharing information with the media, they are not doing any favor, they are doing what they are mandated to do and they are doing what they are paid to do. Whatever we do, if it is for public benefit, the public must know. For this important information to go to the public, the media is the only thing that we can ride on”.

But alas - we are constrained by almost everything - doing is not always easy. But I have also repeatedly made the point that achieving greatness does not necessarily have to do with doing great things - dismantling great evil is also greatness. All it takes is courage!

Sadly courage is in short supply in this land of surplus verbosity.

Century by Century

It was in the 8th decade (1970’s) of the 20th Century, that Bhutan imposed a BAN on commercial harvesting of timber. As of 1979, Bhutan prohibited the export of logs and unprocessed raw lumber - by private individuals and businesses. Every single cubic feet (cft.) of residual timber that was available in the possession of private timber logging operators and sawmill owners - post the BAN - was required to be bought up by a government entity called the EXPORT DIVISION, under the then Ministry of Trade, Industry & Forests.

Such drastic action from the Throne was necessitated as a result of wanton destruction that was being caused to the country’s forest stand - by unscrupulous Forestry officials of the RGoB, in cahoots with greedy timber merchants, coupled with both the legal and illegal cardamom growers in the South of the country.

The extent and scale of the problem was so huge, that:

1. Along with the timber nationalization policy of 1979, the government was forced to put in place a complete ban on the movement of any form of lumber - during the night - in an attempt to control illegal felling and extraction of timber;
2. Upon completion of the take-over exercise by the Export Division, to our consternation, it was discovered that the actual timber stock in the hands of the private operators was more than FIFTY TIMES in excess of what was projected by the Forestry Department to be in the possession of the timer traders/saw millers, based on the records of timber harvest permits issued by the Forestry Department.
3. The volume of timber that needed to be moved to the exit points in the South of the country - in particular Phuentsholing - was so huge that we discovered that the COUNTRY DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH TRUCKS to be able to transport the timbers in time for their profitable sale to buyers.
4. In order to be able to handle the transfer of timber from their locations in the Northern parts of the country to Phuentsholing while they were still in saleable condition, for the first and last time in the history of Bhutan, the government had to employ the riverine route - to move the bulk of the sawn lumber to Phuentsholing. In other words, we had to use the combined forces of the Haachu, Paachu and Thimchu rivers - to float the stock of lumber down to the Export Division’s timber stock yards located in Phuentsholing. The phenomenal financial disaster that ensued, fortunately, is not recorded in any official documents of the RGoB.

The country imported skilled timber floaters from Jammu & Kashmir in North India, to do the job.

Policy misadventure is nothing new to Bhutan - it is the most celebrated talent of the Bhutanese bureaucracy.

I do not believe that the timber nationalization policy of 1979 was an act in support of nature conservation - I believe that it was an act solely intended to combat large-scale corruption in the Forestry sector. Sadly what resulted was the forfeiture of a most dependable revenue source that, some knowledgeable people believe, could have out-performed the hydropower revenue.

Recent national level study reports reveal that despite close to half a century of banning commercial harvesting of timber in the country, our forest is actually poorer for it - amply proving the repeated point made by our forestry scientist Dr. Phuntsho Namgyel that overstocking forests with excessive trees can result in degradation of the quality of forests. He had made the point that selective thinning of the forest is actually critical for the healthy growth of the forest and many other life forms contained within it.

The government has recently announced that timber and timber products would contribute Nu.10.00 billion to the national exchequer. This means that the country is now all set to lift the BAN on the exploitation of the country’s rotting forests. This is DAMN GOOD!

We are now into a new Century - the 21st Century. A whole new breed of people are at the helm of things. But the question remains: has the bureaucracy evolved into a better specimen of human beings? Or will they, yet again, close to half a century later, instigate another BAN - through corruption, mismanagement and mindless shoddy work?

BHUTAN, Land Of Paradoxes

One cannot help but marvel at our indomitable spirit. Even as we are overwhelmed by a sense of extreme anxiety at our uncertain future, we do not fail to derive a sense of comic and humor in our countless failures. Let it not be said that the Bhutanese are NOT a spirited lot of people. 😂😂😂

For proof, check out the following:

WORSENING INEFFICEINCY

In the past the inefficiency in the service delivery by the civil service was blamed on the lazy and non-performing government employees. Now they have even better reason for the current, and even poorer service delivery: it is attributed to the large-scale exodus of the petrified public employees to Australia.

NOT SO FUNNY

In the hope of curtailing tax evasion, the Department of Revenue and Customs (DRC) had, few months back, announced that they would be checking the bank balances in the savings bank accounts of the people. It is not clear how successful the drive would have been - but one thing was left in no doubt - it is rumored that the announcement caused a dangerous, and historic, even if minor, “bank run” - resulting in a massive withdrawal of cash from the banks by worried depositors. Unconfirmed reports say that it caused an unheard of situation of shortage of bank notes! The falling foreign exchange reserve was problem enough - but this was so unexpected. It is not very common that banks run out of currency notes. By itself this is not a problem - currency notes can be printed and reissued, and replenished. Now, had the banks run out of deposits, that would have been a different matter. But obviously the problem was not so severe - few, if any, seem to have heard of the "run".

SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS

The Education Minister recently declared that the country has a shortage of 842 teachers across the country.

The Royal Government of Bhutan spends millions every year - in training schoolteachers in two of the country’s teacher training colleges. At the end of the training period they are required to sit for an interview to qualify to be employed as teachers in government schools, conducted by the RCSC. Strangely, during the selection process a large number of them are declared unfit to teach. It does not seem like a creative thing to do - to train the teachers absolutely free of cost - only to be declared unfit for the job for which the government had trained them, over many years.

Train them until they are unfit for the job!

THE DARK SIDE OF OUR HYDROPOWER PROJECTS

Bhutan claims that our hydropower projects are run-of-the-river projects that produce “clean” energy. Our claim to being the world’s only carbon negative country is primarily based on our claim that we help off-set use of fossil fuel and that 70% of our country is forested.

And yet, the truth is that the planned PHPA-I Dam will rise to a staggering height of 130 Mtrs. (426 ft.) when completed, if ever. The massive destruction caused to the environment during and after the construction phase, including the emission of methane gas, post construction, goes unreported. Also, we ignore the fact that not all our forests contain CO2 sequestering trees.

The true face of hydropower projects revealed!

COUNTRY WITH THE MOST PRISTINE ENVIRONMENT

We pride ourselves as a champion of environmental conservation with strong laws to safeguard the natural world. Protection of the environment is supposed to be one of the four pillars of our famous GNH philosophy. But it does not appear that our record is as clean, or admirable, as we would like to believe, or put out. We may be among the only countries in the world against which a PIL is filed in the Supreme Court - by a foreign country.

Historic incidence of acid rain in the country

Another historic event for Bhutan - champion of environmental conservation being slapped with a PIL in India's Supreme Court - for extreme pollution!

COUNTRY WITH THE WORLD’s HIGHEST WATER RESOURCE

Bhutan has one of the highest per capita availability of water in the world. Official figures show that Bhutan generates about 70,500 million m3 of water annually, meaning each Bhutanese should ideally have access to about 94,500 m3 of water per person per year. And yet, we suffer from problem of chronic water shortage - both for drinking as well as for farming/irrigation.

Water, Water everywhere, not a drop to drink

OUR CLAIM OF ORGANIC FARMING

For the past many decades we have made the claim that our farm produces are organically grown and have pooh-poohed at the imported stuff. The ugly truth seems to be something else. It appears that we are clueless as to what constitutes organic farming. Contrary to claims, going by the figures released by the Department of Agriculture last year, it is clear that we impregnate 2% (current total land area under cultivation) of our land with incredible 3,405,500.00 KGs of chemical substances such as fertilizer/weedicide/pesticide etc.

Proof that we practice organic farming?

A Case Of Check Without Balance

It is sad - to the pathos to which the governance of the world’s Happiest Kingdom has been reduced to.

How, and when, did we get here? Could the truth be that Mr. Sangay of Haa Wangcha is succumbing to his sense of patriotism and ignoring the ugly truth that we Bhutanese may actually be even “less than mediocre”? Listen to this:

https://youtu.be/UEdJJwlc6k4

Listening to our Prime Minister respond to MP of Haa Sombaykha questioning the government on why there is a continuing ban on loans in the country, is enough to give you a lump in the throat.

What desperation drives a Prime Minister of a country - the head of the government - to admit on the floor of the Parliament that he and his government was unable to get one public institution to lift the misguided moratorium on loans to the citizens? Is this an isolated case? Or is this a routine happenstance?

What constitutional provisions or other legal provisions empower a public institution from defying a sitting government and its Chief Executive? How is a government to function when some two-bit institution has the audacity to stand in their way and throttle their attempts at development and progress?

It is good that there are checks and balances in place - but this is a case of CHECK WITHOUT BALANCE.

Today a large number of Bhutanese are quick to point fingers at the DNT government’s less than sterling performance - here is then an occasion for us all to introspect and know the ugly truth and the reason behind many of the country’s failures.

Being Naturally Bhutanese

One of the advises I give to my friends and colleagues is this: Be yourself - NOT someone else. It is the easiest thing to do - it comes to you naturally, without the need for pretenses - to be yourself. It is the hardest thing to do - to be someone who you are not. The day you have a need to be someone else who you are not - it is clear that you have lost your self-respect.

I am hugely encouraged to see that we Bhutanese have no such problems - we are naturally ourselves - for proof, look at the following:

With the above, the nation’s premier law-making body has endorsed “pilgrimage to Nepal and Tibet” as an activity worthy of state-sponsorship. Clearly they believe that annual cleansing of the civil service’s morality is a state responsibility.

Elsewhere in their earlier deliberations, they have chosen to categorize the civil service as “public servants” - leaving us to wonder what the rest of the country’s population would be termed as - uncivil servants doomed for eternal ill-treatment deserving of step-motherly treatment?

The Bhutanese mentality has to change - until we do, we will continue to languish in poverty and inefficiency. But my personal opinion is that this generation is beyond redemption. It is for this reason that more than a year back, I pleaded with His Majesty to consider taking a different approach at governance. Please read the following:

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2022/01/time-for-new-generation-new-breed-of.html

Time may be running out for us - the Ngar of the present generation is at the lowest ebb, perhaps even none-existent. We do not seem to be able to grasp the true calamitous nature of the outflow of human capital from out of the country - as all calamities go, our troubles will come from the most unexpected quarters … and we will find that we have not the wherewithal to cope with it.

If You Propagate Crisis, You Will Get One

Yesterday evening I found myself an accidental tourist at ThePema by Realm  - attending a presentation by the Himalayan Future Forum, titled “A Conversation with Himalayan Citizens”. Moderated by our own Technology Thought Leader Dr. Cigay Tshering Dorji, the speaker was the very able and respected Sujeev Shakya, author and Chair of Nepal Economic Forum.

The talk was lively and full of interesting anecdotal accounts of the speaker’s journey of self-discovery - the extreme grit and determination with which he applied himself in the conviction that nothing could prevent him from being the very best he wanted to be - to be counted as equal among the very best in the world. He told us that the mountain people were among the most resilient - like the slithering mountain rivulet that will seek out every nook and cranny, every crack and cleft there is to find - in its relentless quest to complete its escape towards the wide open ocean.

He told us of the life lessons he learnt from his many intercourses with multiple governments around the world - the power of self-assertion. His message to us was clear - smallness does not matter - we still have our place among the stars: louder we assert - greater the respect!

During the Q&A session, one among the participants was Mr. Karma, the incumbent CEO of RICBL - a person of outstanding intelligence and gut – one who never stepped with any doubt in his mind. I believe that he is the one person who single handedly shaped the course of the successful journey of Bhutan National Bank. Without him at the helm of things during its formative years, the BNB would not be where it is today. His courage to depart from the conventional and the cautious - that is what managed to rankle the behemoth - even as it gnawed away, chunk by small chunk, at the prude’s business empire.

In Karma’s rejoinder to Sujeev’s viewpoints, he said two words that triggered a chain of thoughts in my mind – one was “CRISIS” and the other being “PEAKING POINT”.

Long after the event, I was sitting with 3-4 friends at my favorite bar - Paday Bistro - sipping honey-lemon tea. I began to speak my thoughts:

CRISIS

Most Bhutanese believe that we are about to enter a crisis phase. Really? Who among the supposedly 800,000 odd Bhutanese has really faced crisis in their lives? Has any one among us seen the true face of crisis? What does it look like? How does it feel to be in the middle of a crushing crisis?

From what I know - the Bhutanese society has been so pampered by kidu from our successive monarchs and governments that there has never been a single occasion where we have had to face a crisis. Even during the thick of COVID-19 pandemic, food, medicine, essential services - even alcohol and tobacco, were delivered to stranded and isolated citizens with clockwork precision.

Crisis is when you have to start to chew your shoelaces in place of food - it is when you have no energy left in your body to rise up from the puddle of your own excreta.

Therefore, it is unwise to propagate CRISIS - if we do, we will surely get one.

There is only one person in the whole of this country who lives and breaths crisis on a daily basis - let us hope and pray that He does not give up hope, caused by our incorrigible ways and mindlessness and, above all, our self-centeredness.

PEAKING POINT

Today, in my view, the biggest calamity facing Bhutan is the whole-scale exodus of human capital from out of the country. And yet, during the entire ongoing National Assembly session, not a single word has been spoken about the malaise. Regardless, the rule of law is that everything will eventually arrive at the point of peaking. So will ours - the exodus will peak at some point. Sadly, unlike in other situations when the peaking is said to bring stability and order and an end to a malaise, in our case the reverse will be true.

When we do arrive at our Peking Point – our apocalypse would be TOTAL!

The Royal Civil Service Commission Is Recruiting

As they say in the comic books ---- I told you so!

I am doubtful about the claim "civil servants" but the RCSC is obviously recruiting more employees!

One of the number of positive sides to the hoards of youth heading for Australia is that it opens up employment opportunities for those who are less fortunate - in particular for those who do not have the wherewithal to obtain loans from the financial institutions. Many of us ignore the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of youth who may harbor the hope of being on the band wagon - but cannot because they do not have savings, nor do they have rich parents, or do they own property valuable enough to qualify as a collateral for the necessary amount of bank loan to finance their trip.

Remember that one-way airfare for two to Perth, Australia will cost close to Nu.300,000.00. The reality, thus, is that it is not the poor and the deserving, who make it to Australia - those who do are those who have the mullah to be able to do so. It is a painful reality - unfortunately no one told you that the world is a fair place.

But all things considered, I still believe that the exodus to Australia is a good thing. That is why I am encouraging the government to do everything in their power to ensure that the good thing that we have going for ourselves, is not jeopardized.

We should ensure that people of doubtful characters are restrained from going and screwing up things for others - people with a record of drug abuse and those with criminal backgrounds should not qualify to go. Today Bhutan seems to have been singled out for special treatment because, I believe that those Bhutanese who are already domiciled in Australia have been behaving themselves and have won the trust of the people there. We want that happy situation to continue.

Some of us fear that those who leave the country may never come back. As I had said earlier on many occasions, we must do all we can, to encourage them to come back. It is for that reason that I suggested that someone worthy should go to Australia to speak to our brood there – to encourage them to come back. But if they still don’t, we have to realize that they were never meant to be.

In the meantime the government is doing all they can to make it worthwhile for those who have to remain in the country, out of necessity. For the sake of the country and the people, we hope and pray that they succeed in their endeavors. I would like to caution the government, however, that they might wish to consider a mix of heart and mind. It is sufficiently apparent that those who are masterminding the transformation of the nation have Capitalist bend of minds.

The all-powerful Transformation Team ought to know that we are a nation and people who have been, for the past 115 years, since 1907, indoctrinated in Socialist way of thinking. We know no other way of thinking, or doing things. It would be wise to keep that in mind.