People in Gelephu claim that workshops in the new industrial service centre do not have most of the vehicle spare parts. And since the workshop owners have to order from other districts, it takes almost a month to get them. People say they are deprived of timely services.
To procure a spare part, one has to wait for at least a few days. This is because the workshop owners have to buy the parts from Thimphu, Phuntsholing or a bordering town in Assam. And this has frustrated the customers.
“We come to the workshop and there are no spare parts. So, we have to wait for five to six days,” said Norbu Wangdi, a customer.
“There are many workshops in Gelephu but it is difficult to get any spare parts. One or two workshops have spare parts but are not genuine. And those spare parts give us the problem. We would be grateful if they could keep enough spare parts in stock,” said Kinley, a customer.
Workshop owners say they cannot afford spare parts in huge numbers. They said they invested all their savings in constructing the workshop. Since they have leased state land, the owners said financial institutions do not provide them with loans.
Around 25 automobile workshops in the area have leased state land for 30 years.
“We invested a huge amount in the construction and after the construction, we are not able to provide better service. Therefore, we want to request BCCI and Thromde to help us,” said Pelden Lhamo, an automobile workshop owner.
“We are not eligible for a loan as it is state land. If we could avail loan by mortgaging the structure, it would be of immense benefit to us. We can keep spare parts in stock,” said Dilay Ram, another automobile workshop owner.
BCCI President Tandy Wangchuk, during his recent visit to the district, said the owners should seek Thromde’s assistance in getting loans by mortgaging automobile workshop structures.
To this, Gelephu Thrompon Tshering Norbu said they will request the bank verbally to provide loans. Thrompon added that the office cannot officially write to banks.
The banks however say since their structures are constructed on state land, the owners are not eligible for loans.
The problem of not getting spare parts is likely to exist unless the workshop owners become financially stable.
Karma Wangdi, Gelephu
Edited by Tshering Zam
