During his campaign in Monggar on Tuesday, the Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa’s president shared his party’s concerns over Druk Phuensum Tshogpa’s pledge to generate at least 10,000 MW of electricity by 2030.
Lotay Tshering also shared misgivings about the DPT’s pledge to involve the private sector in the construction of hydropower projects. Doing so, he said, would only widen the already growing income gap.
Speaking to the people gathered at the Monggar Lower Secondary School, the DNT president said increasing the electricity generating capacity to 10,000 MW would plunge the country into a debt crisis.
“Our national debt has hit almost Nu 150bn with the existing projects and achieving the 10,000 MW target would mean harnessing all our fast flowing rivers. This could cause our debt to cross over a thousand billion ngultrums,” he said.
Lotay Tshering added a huge number of foreign workers would be required to generate 10,000 MW of electricity in ten years. This will give rise to a lot of problems associated with foreign workers, he said.
“There are over 25,000 foreign workers working at the Punatshangchu project alone. We would need over 100,000 foreign workers if we are to generate 10,000 MW of electricity.”
However, the President of Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) Pema Gyamtsho clarified that his party’s aim is to revamp the national target of increasing the electricity generation capacity from the present 1,606 MW to a minimum of 10,000 MW by 2030.
“Generating 10,000 MW is not true. We pledge to expedite the works at the Punatshangchu I and II, and Mangdechhu and to construct three new hydropower plants. The three new projects wouldn’t be able to generate 10,000 MW,” he said.
On the DPT’s pledge to promote private sector participation in hydropower projects, DNT President Lotay Tshering said such a move will benefit only a handful.
“It will benefit only a few and not the nation at large. It would put the national wealth in the hands of one or two people,” he said.
The DPT president, on the other hand, says the DNT has misunderstood its pledge about involving the private sector in the hydropower projects.
He explained privatization of hydropower construction and promotion of private sector in hydropower construction are two different things.
“Private sector participation in mega hydropower plants is impossible. But we should study possibilities to involve them in mini and micro-projects, and encourage them to take up if they are interested,” Pema Gyamtsho said.
