Leaseholders in Chamkhar town say they are not ready to vacate the old Chamkhar town and relocate their businesses to the new Local Area Plans or LAPs. They claim that basic amenities and infrastructure are not ready in the new town planning areas yet. Moreover, with land prices skyrocketing after the relocation announcement was made last year, they say buying plots in the three LAPs has become impractical.
With a little over four months left for their lease term to expire, the leaseholders in Chamkhar town said that there are no proper sewerage and drainage network in the three LAPs for them to relocate. They say internal roads are also not ready.
“Since the three LAPs are not ready for us to move, there is no place we can move after our lease expires. We fully support the relocation, however, when we visit the LAPs, there are no basic amenities that we need. There is no water supply, electricity and houses for us to move in,” said Sangay Phuntsho, a leaseholder.
He said that a lease extension until the LAPs are fully readied for them to move would benefit them.
After the district administration announced that the lease term for the residents won’t be extended further in March last year, land prices in the three LAPs shot up drastically. Residents say they can’t afford to buy their own plots to establish businesses in the new town planning areas.
“We are ever-ready to move if they allot us plots in the three LAPs. The land prices have increased so much after people heard about the relocation. In Dekiling, it has reached around Nu 380,000 per decimal and in new Chamkhar, it costs around Nu 350,000 per decimal. There are no leaseholders in Chamkhar town who can afford it,” said Karma Choki, another leaseholder.
Moreover, they are worried that their businesses would be affected further if they relocate to other areas. They say their businesses are already hampered by the loss of customers due to people emigrating to Australia and the opening of the Nangar-Ura bypass.
“We cannot sell our products even when we are all clustered in the current town, if we are distributed all over the LAPs, we would not be able to make even Nu 500 to 600 a day. I am saddened and concerned that we will not be able to make a living,” said Pema Yangzom, a leaseholder.
On the other hand, the district administration has proposed an additional budget of over Nu 1bn to the cabinet to carry out the remaining developmental works in the three LAPs. The administration has already spent around Nu 275 M to construct roads and footpaths and install streetlights among others.
Moreover, 51 house construction approvals were given in the three LAPs.
For now, it is not known which way the situation will go but certainly, time seems to be running out fast for the leaseholders
Tashi Yangden, Bumthang
Edited by Kipchu
