The decade-long water woes for the Samtengang Central School and Samtengang Primary School in Wangdue Phodrang came to an end as the Desuung National Service Water Project in Samtengang was recently completed. The water project was formally handed over to the school authorities on Thursday.
The project was formally handed over to the School Authority by the Desung National Service Water Project and the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement. More than 30 Desuup volunteers took part in the project which began on March 18.
Under this project, men and women in orange, constructed a reservoir tank and laid a pipeline of more than seven kilometres.
According to the Wangdue Phodrang Dzongdag, Sonam Jamtsho, the water project was completed with a budget of around Nu 2 M, a million ngultrum less than the estimated cost.
“The project work would have taken at least five months to complete if it was given to a private contractor. But the Desuup volunteers have completed the works within three months. Several modern technologies have been installed and used in the construction and works have been completed successfully without any problem,” he said.
Likewise, the Chairperson of the National Council, Tashi Dorji, who was the chief guest during the handing taking of the project said that the water project would immensely benefit the teachers and students of Samtengang.
“The achievements of Desuup’s hard work would solve the drinking water shortage problem faced by the Samtengang Central School and Primary School. Your achievement would benefit the students in terms of serving clean meals and maintaining better health and hygiene in their schools. So, the reward for the happiness of students would ultimately come to your life,” said the chairperson.
The officiating principal of Samtengang Central School, Sangay Tshering, expects the water project to not only improve the health and hygiene of the students but also improve their studies.
“We have fully solved the problem of insufficient water from our side at the moment. Likewise, we are mandated to stress more on health and hygiene during this worsening pandemic situation and there is no way that we can do it without a good supply of water. So, we are happy that we will be able to maintain the health and hygiene successfully with sufficient water hereafter,” he said.
Likewise, the students will also no longer have to visit nearby communities to fetch water.
“Under the benevolent King, I pray that the DeSuung National Service Water Project strive day and night in the water supply works for the benefit of all. Now, with their help, we will no longer have to face the water shortage problem. Earlier, we faced problems in maintaining cleanliness especially to take bath and wash our clothes due to insufficient water,” said Sonam Wangchuk, a student.
“We used to face a lot of problems earlier due to the shortage of water. Moreover, we the girls used to face extreme problems in our hostels, as we need more water. Therefore, we would like to firstly offer our gratitude to His Majesty The King for granting us this water project. And we would also like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Desuups and other officials who were involved in the project,” added Passang Lham, another student.
More than a thousand people including the students and faculty members of both schools will be benefited from the project.
Today, Samtengang Central School alone has 558 students in the boarding facility.
Changa Dorji,Wangdue Phodrang
