…common forums in Dagana ended yesterday

Yangyel Lhaden

Candidates of Lhamoidzingkha-Tashiding constituency reiterated their pledges at the last common forum for the constituency held at Tashiding Gewog on December 22. 

People’s Democratic Party candidate Chandra Bahadur Gurung spoke first as per the lineup drawn based on the alphabetical order of the names of the candidates. 

Chandra Bahadur Gurung pledged that the party would revitalise the country’s economy by injecting Nu 15 billion.”

He said that the economic budget would also assist Tashiding residents in accessing loans with low interest. “If PDP is elected, Tashiding residents could access loans for utility vehicles and farming machinery easily, among others.” 

PDP pledges to provide Boleros with an 80 percent loan and four percent interest, construction of the first new house at a 95 percent loan with four percent interest, and power tillers without interest. 

“People who want to engage in livestock farming can purchase cows and jerseys with a mortgage on the property itself,” Chandra Bahadur Gurung said. 

“The Sunkosh hydropower groundbreaking ceremony took place today, and we have also included the construction of the project in our pledge. We will also construct the Daga Chhu Phase II hydropower,” he said. 

Chandra Bahadur Gurung said that the party pledges to attract 300,000 tourists annually, and these tourists would be directed to Dagana as well. 

“Tashiding and Namchala schools would be made campus I and II since there should be only one central school in each gewog,” Chandra Bahadur Gurung said. “In this way, both schools would benefit.”

He also pledged to construct a road from Lhamoidzingkha to Sarpang, which would take less than 40 minutes to travel from Dagana to Gelephu.

Bhutan Tendrel Party candidate Prakash Sharma pledged to make Dagana prosperous and make people’s lives easier by improving services at the gewog level, among others. 

Prakash Sharma said that currently, people face challenges in accessing simple services, and individuals have no right to question because there is no law or act that grants them the authority to do so.

“We are going to enact a Public Service Delivery Bill, which will make accessing services easier, and we are also going to establish Miwang Zhapto Teywa in all gewogs for people to access services,” he said. 

“We are going to recover the economy by harnessing what we have in the country through ATIEM, which stands for agriculture, technology, infrastructure, energy, and mining,” Prakash Sharma said. 

He said that Dagana has rich mineral deposits, and if BTP is elected, they aim to extract these minerals for export, which would benefit the people of Dagana and the country. “The mines and minerals, if extracted today, would be sufficient for the next 100 years.”

Prakash Sharma also pledged to promote eco and agro-tourism in each gewog, provide boarding facilities for Tashiding, Namchela, and Nimtola schools, improve blacktop roads from Karmaling to Lhamoidzingkha, initiate a solar power project at Nichula, Samarchu, and Nimtola hydropower projects, and establish a cold storage facility at the crematorium. 

He also pledged to construct Lhamoidzingkha-Sarpang road. 

The common forum for Drukjeygang-Tseza ended yesterday while common forum for Lhamoidzingkha-Tashiding concluded on December 23.