Residents of Dawaling_Yangphelthang in Samtse’s Norbugang Gewog are frustrated as the long-awaited improvement works on a 4.5-kilometers farm road remain incomplete. Delays in the project’s progress have left residents concerned about its timely completion and benefits to the community. The maintenance works, which commenced in September 2022, were initially scheduled to be completed by September last year.
Last year, residents of Dawaling_Yangphelthang in Norbugang Gewog were excited as efforts to improve a 4.5-kilometre farm road began, aiming to improve connectivity and accessibility for the local community. However, the excitement has turned to frustrations as the improvement works, particularly from Yangphelthang to Dramzegang village, are yet to be completed.
As part of the improvement works, residents were promised improvements like laying Plain Cement Concrete (PCC) over nearly a kilometre and Granular Sub Base (GSB), and building drains along the road. However, they have noticed little progress, raising worries about when the project will finish and if it would benefit them as expected.
“While some improvements have been made to the road, the drainage system has been neglected. The old drains were removed with promises of new ones, which initially excited us. However, to date, we have not witnessed any progress in the construction of the drains,” said Sherab, a resident.
“For about two years now, the project remains incomplete. The reasons for the delay are unknown to us, but we are bearing the brunt of it. Promises were made to construct drains and enhance the road with cement, but there has been little to no progress,” said Thinley Dorji, another resident.
Due to the lack of progress and complaints from the residents, the Norbugang Gewog Administration has informed the district engineering sector multiple times about the issue.
The district administration has informed the contractor multiple times and also issued a final warning to complete the remaining concrete works and rectify the damaged drains soon or face contract termination.
Meanwhile, the contractor mentioned difficulties like machine breakdowns and water shortages slowing down the project. However, with recent repairs to the machine, the contractor is confident that the remaining road maintenance works will start soon and complete them by the end of this month.
Once complete, the farm road improvement project, worth Nu 8.3 M, is expected to benefit over 120 households of the chiwog. The road was constructed in 2011.
Passang Dorji, Samtse
Edited by Kipchu
