Natural Resource Development Corporation Limited (NRDCL) in Zhemgang is having difficulty selling timber amid the pandemic. The NRDCL depot at Hoomdar in Tingtibi has over Nu 6 M worth of timbers in stock for sale.
The office had extracted around 60,000 cubic feet (cft) of mixed hardwood logs from the nearby forest in Kikhar and these logs are lying idly at the depot for almost a year. Some of the logs are decaying and as the summer approaches, the good timbers will also get damaged.
Jigme Dorji, a Chief Forestry Officer at Divisional Forest Office in Zhemgang said,” We don’t have excess logs at the depot. We have extracted only the required number of timber for last year. However, because of the pandemic, we couldn’t sell any. If anyone is willing to buy the timbers, we are ready to sell them.”
With many of the constructions in the country on halt, he said the number of people buying the timbers have decreased. Moreover, government works were not awarded to the contractors in the last fiscal year, which added to the timber balance at the depot.
Wood-based industries in Gelegphu are the ones who usually buy the timbers from NRDCL. However, with mandatory quarantine required for people coming from Southern Districts, many did not come to buy timbers.
To address the issue, the divisional forest office and NRDCL decided to stop timber extraction for while.
“Hereafter, we will try to do it in two ways. We will sort all good timbers and try to sell them. If the situation remains as it is, then we will cut all the logs and sell them. We are expecting that people from within and other districts will buy the sown timbers.” said Jigme Dorji.
Officials said NRDCL proposed government export of the timber to other countries but the government denied the proposal.
Every year, NRDCL depot at extracts around 60,000 cft of timber. As per the Timber Extraction and Distribution Modality (TEDM) 2019, 50 percent of timber extracted is allocated to the members of the Association of Wood Based Industries (AWBIs) and 50 percent to the NRDCL.
Zhemgang alone consumes around 20,000 cft in a year.
Pema Samdrup, Zhemgang.
