The Joint Sitting of the Parliament dropped the recommendation to establish NRDCL’s One-Stop Service Centre in every district. A few Members of Parliament proposed the Public Accounts Committee include it as an additional recommendation. It is to make commercial timber, sand and stone easily accessible to the general public.
Deliberating the Review Report on the Performance Audit Report of Natural Resources Development Corporation, a few parliamentarians said currently only six districts have NRDCL offices.
Therefore, they said, it is difficult for people, especially those in rural areas, to get stone, sand, and timber approval. They said the establishment of a one-stop service centre in every district will ease the problem.
“I suggest NRDCL do research and set up a one-stop service centre in each district so that people can easily acquire stone, wood, and sand and have access to it in their respective districts. I am not saying that the establishment of such a centre will make people get the stone, wood and sand at a cheaper rate. The rates will be fixed by NRDCL as per the law. It will help people get everything from their respective districts rather than depending on other districts,” said Haa MP, Ugyen Namgay.
“For instance, timber from Gasa is transported to sawmills in Wangdue Phodrang and Punakha. If individuals in Gasa are working on a project and the timber is insufficient, they get it from Wangdue and Punakha. The government needs to know this. We say our country is rich in forest and we have enough trees in each district. But it is causing inconveniences to the people when NRDCL supplies timber to the factories and people have to buy that from factories in other districts,” said Gasa MP, Dorji Khandu.
The Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee said the centre is important but the corporation seems not so financially ready.
“NRDCL is already having a budget constraint. We don’t know their capacity to establish a service centre in each district. However, it is still necessary to have the centre. So, for now, we cannot decide that they should do it,” said Public Accounts Committee’s Chairperson, Dil Maya Rai.
The house had to drop the idea.
Pema Seldon Tshering/Kinley Dem
Edited by Phub Gyem
