Hostel congestion is one of the many challenges the students of the College of Language and Culture Studies (CLCS) in Trongsa are faced with. However, this issue is expected to be solved once the new hostels, which are under construction, are completed.
The institute has more than 1,000 students, of which around 70 per cent live in the campus. The college’s existing eight hostel buildings accommodate over 700 students.
With a single room occupied by a minimum of five students, they say because of the crowded living conditions, they also face health issues
“If one fall sick, there are chances of others falling sick too, especially if one suffers from cough and cold,” Karma Choden, a 2nd-year student, said.
“When five to six students share a room, it is very inconvenient for us to adjust our things in a small space,” Tshewang Tenzin Doya, a 1st-year student, said.
The college administration says these problems will be eased once the three new hostel blocks are completed. Each building will be able to accommodate 100 students.
The hostels which they say are 99 per cent complete, is expected to be ready by June. The construction works began in June 2015 and were scheduled to be completed by April 2017.
But according to the contractor, works got delayed due to several issues including the roadblock at Ossey in Zhemgang which took several months to clear, labours leaving due to cold weather and issues in acquiring construction materials.
“Had the problems occurred at the initial stage of the project, the contractor could have been terminated. But the problem began after about seventy-five per cent of works were completed. So it was difficult to terminate the contractor when only twenty-five per cent of the works remained,” Lungten Gyatso, the President of CLCS, said.
The works resumed only after February last year. And the contractor is continuing works under liquidity damage period.
