Project DANTAK has removed the name and logo of the project and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) from four road signboard posts along the Yonphula-Trashigang highway on April 19.

DANTAK officials on the site said that the removal of the logo and names were as per the directives of the senior officials at the headquarters.

Kuensel learnt that these signboards would be replaced with new boards that would be in line with the Bhutan Standards Bureau’s (BSB) standard road signage, ‘Road Safety Signs and Symbols’ (RSSS).

Officials say that the removal of the logo and names is an interim measure until the procurement of new signboards.

Officials from the Department of Roads (DoR) in Trashigang said there was no official correspondence between the department and DANTAK prior to making the changes on the signboards.

DoR is the implementing agency of the road signage standard throughout the country.

Following the approval of the RSSS, the works and human settlement ministry notified Project DANTAK to comply with the road signage standard and to remove all the signs and writings from the highway in June last year.

The public immediately noticed the difference on the signboards. “I could see the two logos and the letters that read, ‘Border Roads Organisation’ disappeared,” said a resident of Pam village where one such post exists.

“The signboards look cleaner with all those logos gone,” said another resident in Trashigang town. “The road signboards have one function and that is to provide information. Keeping it simple is more desirable for the commuters.”

The need to standardise the roadside signs came into the limelight when residents of Paro raised concerns on Project DANTAK signboards welcoming visitors to the country.

DoR and BSB were then working on formulating uniform signboards to be used across the country.

The RSSS was introduced to standardise road safety signs and symbols to ensure that it is consistent. The RSSS was to have a common method to communicate safety information with continued growth in international trade, travel and mobility of workers, according to officials from BSB.

The standard, officials say, prescribes the general requirement for development and layout of road safety signs and road markings to be used on Asian or national highways, dzongkhags, thromdes and gewog roads.

Younten Tshedup | Trashigang

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