Saturday, June 28, 2025
  • Webmail
  • Contact Us
  • About BBS
  • Privacy & Policy
ENG
DZO
BBSCL Logo
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Education
  • More
    • Announcement
    • Audience Survey Report
    • Programme
    • Radio Dzo-Channel Schedule
    • Radio Mix-Channel Schedule
Radio Live
No Result
View All Result
BBSCL logo
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Education
  • More
    • Announcement
    • Audience Survey Report
    • Programme
    • Radio Dzo-Channel Schedule
    • Radio Mix-Channel Schedule
No Result
View All Result
BBSCL logo
Radio LIVE

Villagers cry foul over SMCL’s open bidding for Tshophangma coal mining

January 27, 2021
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
0
SHARES
9
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

People from the gewogs of Phuentshothang, Pemathang, Samrang and Martshala in Samdrup Jongkhar are crying foul over the State Mining Corporation Limited’s (SMCL) decision of floating open tender on the hiring of earthmoving equipment for the Tshophangma coal mining at Martshala Gewog.

According to them, SMCL has committed to hiring the earthmoving equipment for the Tshophangma coal mining from the community once the present contract expires in February 2021.

However, SMCL floated open bidding to interested eligible hiring agents and contractors on 14th January.

People in these gewogs say they have proposed for outsourcing earth moving equipment like excavator, dumper trucks, and payloaders among others for the Tshophangma and Habrang coal mines to the SMCL through Samdrupchhoeling Dungkhag Administration on 28th November 2019. The SMCL also acknowledged the proposal and wrote to the communities on 12 June 2020 stating that they will be given an opportunity to participate in the project once the present contract expires.

Thrilled with the response, they started preparing to take part in the mining business. Formation of a legal entity and framing of bylaws to meet the criteria kicked off and gave birth to the ‘Pemi Dejung Kuenphen Private Limited.’ The company floated shares and about Nu 30 M was collected from around 3,900 shareholders. 

“We are ready to buy machinery and all, we submitted our readiness to the government and they never replied to us and they announced on tendering Tshophangma coal mine to interested bidders, now we are not happy with the decision,” said Tshering Duba, a shareholder and a committee member of the company.

“We were happy to know that opportunity will be given to us and we purchase shares and now they say it will be tender, so now we are worried,” added  Wangpo, a shareholder from Phuentshothang Gewog.

However, according to an official from the SMCL, Pemi Dejung Kuenphen Private Limited failed to fulfil the requirements and conditions. The official says local communities are supposed to collect Nu 189 M for procuring machinery but they collected only Nu 30 M, and without enough money, it is not possible to buy the machinery to run the mines.

The SMCL also issued a letter to Pemi Dejung Kuenpen Private Limited asking to furnish the certified assurance for Nu 189 M as the first tranche of the financial resource by December 2020.

Refuting this claim, Pemi Dejung Kuenphen Private Limited says the Nu 189 M was just an estimated amount and they could not collect it due to the second nationwide lockdown as villagers were not able to buy shares since their cash crops are still not sold. The company also says the balance amount can be topped up by bank loans on procuring machinery and Letter of credit facility from the machinery companies.

“We never committed to collect Nu 189 M, we just estimated that we would be able to collect about Nu 189 M from shares by looking at the size of population and all. We have not assure to collect that amount, we just expected to collect it,” said Tshering Duba.

Meanwhile, local leaders of the four gewogs have also written a letter to the SMCL to withdraw the tender call for Tshophangma coal mine.

Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar

Previous Post

CNR to launch PhD course in Climate Change

Next Post

North and South Mega Zones in Thimphu declared as Green Zones

Next Post

North and South Mega Zones in Thimphu declared as Green Zones

Hydroponic fodder farming to address the shortage of fodders, Monggar

DoR to start with rigid pavement of the road between Nganglam and Pelzomthang Checkpoint

Please login to join discussion

RECOMMENDED NEWS

BBS would like to seek Expression of Interest from Interested eligible production houses to organize reality shows during weekdays.

5 months ago
174
Awarding works to lowest bidder compromising quality: contractors

Awarding works to lowest bidder compromising quality: contractors

9 years ago
3
Renovations at Sonamgang Primary School provide accessible learning for children with disabilities

Renovations at Sonamgang Primary School provide accessible learning for children with disabilities

8 months ago
506

The convict to demolish the structures if govt. is not interested to buy the resort, Trongsa land scam

6 years ago
19

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

  • Accidents (14)
  • Agriculture (439)
  • Announcement (179)
  • Audience Survey Report (1)
  • Business (759)
  • Crime/Legal (370)
  • Culture (48)
  • Development (57)
  • Disaster (57)
  • Economy (289)
  • Education (419)
  • Entertainment (16)
  • Environment (66)
  • Feature (65)
  • Featured (6)
  • Festival (81)
  • GMC (14)
  • Headlines (5)
  • Health (630)
  • Legal (53)
  • Literature (9)
  • Livestock (76)
  • Media (26)
  • Other Stories (5,687)
  • Politics (419)
  • RCSC (1)
  • Recent stories (6)
  • Religion (45)
  • Sci/Tech (712)
  • Social (548)
  • Sports (456)
  • Technology (191)
  • Tourism (22)
  • Uncategorized (13,868)
  • Video (141)
  • Video Story (257)
  • Wildlife (42)

BROWSE BY TOPICS

Tender Announcement Vacancy Announcement

POPULAR NEWS

  • BPC’s investigation rules out transformer short circuit as Damchhu forest fire cause

    Viral video of Bhutanese man assaulted by locals and police in Jaigaon sparks safety concerns

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Gelephu Mindfulness City opens recruitment drive for Bhutanese professionals

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • A centenarian’s recipe to longevity

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 40 companies risk closure over failure to submit financial reports

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Post-mortem confirms foul play: Progress in investigation of 24-year-old woman’s death

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
BBSCL

Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) is Bhutan’s primary national broadcaster, delivering diverse news and entertainment in multiple languages, fostering cultural understanding and public knowledge.

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

  • Lead exposure may be contributing to high anaemia levels among children in Bhutan
  • MoIT imposes moratorium on issuance of taxi driving licence
  • Book on temples and monasteries of Trongsa’s Drakteng wins Dzongkha Booker Prize
  • Shumar Cheden Tshephel Detshen becomes self-reliant with own milk processing unit
  • Fire risk from phones at fuel depot low but never non-existent

News Category

  • Accidents
  • Agriculture
  • Announcement
  • Audience Survey Report
  • Business
  • Crime/Legal
  • Culture
  • Development
  • Disaster
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Feature
  • Featured
  • Festival
  • GMC
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • Legal
  • Literature
  • Livestock
  • Media
  • Other Stories
  • Politics
  • RCSC
  • Recent stories
  • Religion
  • Sci/Tech
  • Social
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Tourism
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Video Story
  • Wildlife
  • Webmail
  • Contact Us
  • About BBS
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 BBSCL. All rights reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Education
  • More
    • Announcement
    • Audience Survey Report
    • Programme
    • Radio Dzo-Channel Schedule
    • Radio Mix-Channel Schedule

© 2024 BBSCL. All rights reserved.