Forty-one households of Dechhen Pelri village of Samtenling Gewog in Sarpang have been living in temporary huts for more than a decade. But now their dream of living in proper houses is getting fulfilled.
Originally from Edi village in Panbang under Zhemgang, they were relocated in Dechhen Pelri village in 2003 for security reasons by granting three acres of land each. But they were not able to construct proper houses.
The Tarayana Foundation, a civil society organisation through its housing improvement programme with support from Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) a network of young chief executives in more than 130 countries, is currently helping to construct houses in Dechen Pelri.
Around 18 households have already completed building their houses.
Tashi Tshering is one of the beneficiaries who recently moved to the newly completed house. He said, “I have always been worried that my family do not own a proper house. But now, I am happy that with support and blessings from Her Majesty the Queen Mother Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, we were able to build our homes on the land granted to us by His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo.”
Beneficiaries said they are happy that their dream of living in a decent home is being made possible.
“We were granted kidu of 60 pieces of CGI sheets for roofing, labourer charges of Nu 29,000 and a complete set of electrical items for house wiring, “Jambay Sonam said.
“We could not construct permanent house earlier and have been residing in a makeshift bamboo house for years,” Zomba Lhamo said.
“ We are happy that we are resettled here, where we have easy access to public services like medical facilities,” Karma Tenzin said.
The houses are being constructed using locally produced bricks, which are cheaper than imported bricks. The Tarayana Foundation established a compressed concrete block production unit in 2011 with support from the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives.
The unit is run by Phuntshopelri Che-Zen-Chee-Theen Tshogpa. The group produces concrete blocks, pavement tiles and hollow blocks and market it to their local community.
“We produce bricks mainly for the construction of houses in our communities. We also received demand from other places as well,” Tashi Rabten, the Secretary of the group, said.
Dechen Pelri village is about seven kilometres away from Gelegphu town.
