The stone aggregates export business resumed in Gelegphu more than three weeks after the business came to a halt with the implementation of the load carrying capacity rule. Three trucks carrying 18.5-metric ton(MT) of stone aggregates left for Charpar in Assam, India yesterday.
Gelegphu reopened its gates for export after the Department of Forest and Park Services (DoFPS) started issuing the movement order for the export permit as per the recent approved interim guidelines for surface collection and dredging of riverbed materials by the Cabinet.
The new guideline has delegated the DoFPS to issue the export permit based on the number of wheels of the vehicles.
“We have been without work for almost 25 days. We had a difficult time with month end for repayment of our loan. Also, we could not collect our money for our previous consignment,” Nima Tshering, a trucker, said.
Some of the truckers said the present fixation of the load carrying capacity of 18 MT for ten wheelers will not benefit them but would incur huge losses. They said the government should come up with proper solutions, where both exporters and government benefit and not stick with Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW).
More than 60 exporters are busy stocking boulders along the Mao River in hope that government would solution address the issue.
The 15 MT load carrying capacity limit for trucks was enforced since May 20, after officials discovered that exporters normally carry around 30 to 35 MT of boulders and they declare only 15 MTon their paper documents to avoid taxes. It adversely affected many truckers as the export of boulders to Bangladesh came to a standstill.
Boulders export business from Sarpang to Bangladesh started from November last year.
