Once again the local government leaders and the Sarpang dzongkhag administration are at loggerheads. The issue is nothing new, keeping engineers in the gewogs. The Local Government Act states that a gewog administration shall have an engineer and an accountant each.
Today, eight engineers work in the gewogs in Sarpang. The dzongkhag administration has only six with them. But the local leaders were worried when they knew that engineers would be back with the dzongkhag.
The local leaders raised the issue in the recent dzongkhag Tshogdu.
“The government gives a huge budget to the gewogs and without gewog engineers, there might be challenges and problems in the future. There might be audit issues. If all the gewog engineers are with the dzongkhag, it will take time to get their service. And it would affect the progress of developmental activities in the gewogs,” said Ugyen Wangchuk, Gelegphu Gup, Sarpang.
The Chief Engineer informed the house that the ministry of works and human settlement has instructed them to restructure the engineering sector. All engineers would be together and it will be called Dzongkhag Engineering and Human Settlement Sector.
“Engineers are not meant to work independently but together because some are specialized in irrigation, some in drinking water, some in roads and bridges and some in buildings. If all the engineers are together, there is an opportunity to share knowledge,” said Sangay Tenzin, Dzongkhag Chief Engineer, Sarpang.
The meeting decided to keep the gewog engineers for the time being but should abide by the government’s decision to send the engineers to the dzongkhag.
Karma Wangdi, Sarpang
Edited by Tandin Phuntsho
