Amid the difficulties in importing foreign workers, building construction owners in Dewathang under Samdrup Jongkhar are now employing local skilled workers. The pandemic, in a sense, has opened doors to the Bhutanese workers to make a good living.
Dorji Gyeltshen, trained in welding and fabrication from technical vocational training institute in Gelegphu for two years, says before construction owners use to bring Indian skilled workers and he hardly gets one or two building fabrication work in a year but now demand for his skill has become high in the locality. In just about six months, Dorji has done fabrication work on two buildings and earned about Nu 200,000. Currently, he is with the third assignment.
“We can do as same as Indian skilled worker, there are no differences. What we need is only a determination, there are many opportunities, most of us are not interested to work, and so we depend on Indians to work,” he said.
Like him, Sangay Dorji, a farmer from Martang village who also knows masonry works got a good opportunity in the construction sectors in absence of Indian workers. Sangay Dorji is paid Nu 600 daily.
“Before we use to get only two to three days of work but this year we got the opportunity to work more than months, I dint get many opportunities to work before so I feel the quality of work will be less than Indians but what we need is opportunities so that we can learn and get experience,” he said.
A building construction owner says hiring Bhutanese workers in such a situation is the best solution.
“With COVID-19, Indian workers went back and with border gate closed they are not able to come, so I hired Bhutanese workers. Currently, they are doing good and if we give opportunities to them I think Bhutanese can also do it,” said Ugyen Tshering, a construction owner in Dewathang.
More than 35 Bhutanese workers are employed across the five constructions going on in Dewathang for now.
Kinley Wangchuk
