Damage caused by a landslide, lack of internet connectivity, among others, blamed

LG: The newly constructed Nubi gewog office in Bemji, Trongsa, constructed in 2014, is still vacant.

The single-storey gewog office consists of a staff quarter, a community centre and the gup’s office.

There is a gate in place and the national flag is hoisted.

The office is situated at the base of Bemji village near a Basic Heath Unit.

But residents of the area are questioning why the gewog office has still not shifted despite the new office being completed two years ago.

Nubi gup and the dzongkhag tshogdu threezin, Tashi Penden said the office was constructed in 2014. He said they were supposed to shift the gewog office from Bjizam to Bemji but could not as the new gewog office was affected by a landslide.

Debris from the landslide can be seen at the new office premises.

“The landslide caused destruction to the staff quarter which is at the top of the premises and rain water also got into the rooms,” he said.

The office also does not have internet connection.

“I personally went to the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) requesting for a fund to clean the premises,” Gup Tashi Penden said, adding that the department provided Nu 1.1 million with which the staff quarter along with other infrastructure was repaired.

He said they planned to shift office this year despite no internet connectivity but then decided to wait until the local government elections are over. “We have decided to shift the office when a new gup is elected,” said Tashi Penden.

Another reason is that only the administrative officer would be running the office until a new gup joins. It was deemed that it would be difficult for only one officer to be running an office without internet connectivity.

Gup Tashi Penden said the gewog purchased a privately owned house for the existing gup’s office.

He said the dzongkhag tshogdu has decided to keep the existing gewog office and turn it into the chiwog office so that the gup can use it to meet people when required.

Nima Wangdi | Trongsa

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