Shifting some ministries to other districts and introducing Pick and Drop bus services for offices with large number of staff were some of the recommendations made by the Member of Parliament (MP) to address the growing number of vehicles in the country.
The House of Review continued its deliberations on the review report on the policies related to Vehicle imports by the Economic Affairs Committee today.
Continuing the deliberations on the recommendations to address the growing number of vehicles in the country, Member of Parliament made various recommendations.
“Is it necessary to keep the entire ten ministries in Thimphu? If we shift a few of the ministries to various regions, the traffic congestion problem will be addressed up to some extent in Phuentshogling and Thimphu. Likewise, depending upon the size of various offices what if we can introduce a pick and drop bus system as well,” proposed Sangay Dorji, the Chhukha MP.
“I would recommend reducing government and pool vehicles in bigger towns since there are already many vehicles in these places. Moreover, there are public transport system and taxis as well,” said Tashi Samdrup, the Trongsa MP.
“Depending upon the number of students in different schools, I would recommend the government to provide at least two school buses in every school. This will not only address the traffic congestion problem but also save fuel and reduce the impact on the environment,” added Dorji Khandu, the Gasa MP.
“Private individuals can also provide public transport services apart from the government. There are a few private people who are providing transport services and we should encourage many more. We can do that by levying a minimal tax or no tax for them,” said Lhaki Dolma, the Punakha MP.
The Member present also suggested introducing and improving the public transport system in other parts of the country as well.
The Economic Affairs Committee recommended enacting effective national transport policy, abolishing import quota for privileged public officials, designing targeted interventions and improving public transport on Wednesday. For now, all the recommendations have been noted and will be further discussed in the internal meeting.
Passang Dorji
