Lunana Gewog in Gasa Dzongkhag is facing problem while assigning mules for the official transportation works due to the meagre fares. The issue was raised in the Gasa Dzongkhag Tshogdu yesterday.
The local leaders say it has become one of the serious issues in the gewog that need to be addressed at the earliest as it hampers their day-to-day works.
The Lunana gup informed the House that it has become high time to increase the charges for mule transportation as everything has been revised and locals are not happy with the current official fares. He says this issue has been raised and discussed several times since the 4th Dzongkhag Tshogdu of the 2nd Local Government, but no positive outcome has been reached so far.
The gup says since his Gewog is located almost eight days walk from Gasa, all the transportations are done using mules and yaks. However, the gewog administration is facing challenges to assign mules, especially for the official transportation works as the charges for mules is too low and below their expectations. He proposed the House to make it reasonable.
“It is difficult to assign mules as the official rate is only Nu 300 per day for a mule while our people get Nu 800 to Nu 1000 per day from the tourist. Likewise, people are demanding Nu 1200 for carrying a piece of CGI sheet in official works. So, quite often than not we are landing up in conflict with the Royal Audit’s rules at the end,” said Kaka, the Lunana Gup.
He says mules and Yaks are one of the main helping hands for income generation and locals have enough mules and yaks to serve these purposes. However, he says failing to meet the expected charges for the transportation of goods has become a genuine issue and concern for the Gewog Administration.
“One reason for not being able to develop the gewog could be the difference of such rates. This inconsistent rate also hampers to achieve the official works as planned. So, this is one of the areas where the government should focus if their vision is to narrow the gap between rich and poor. We are pretty sure that it would definitely help us to develop the gewog too,” the gup added.
The Dzongkhag Tshogdu Chairperson said that the Lunana Gewog is different from other gewogs in the country in terms of distance and atmospheric locations, which deserved the fare increment for mule transportations.
“Discussions on the charges of mule transportation works are currently undergoing in the parliament. So, let us wait for the outcome and its confirmation from the government. We will again submit our proposal to the government next time if we do not get any concrete confirmation from the present parliament session,” said Thinley Wangdi, the Chairperson of Gasa Dzongkhag Tshogdu.
Lunana Gewog is located at an altitude of 3400 metres above sea level and has about 200 households today. The people of the gewog take more than eight days to reach to the Gewog Centre from the road point.
Today, irrespective of position levels, a lump sum of Nu 1200 per day is paid to the civil servants for travel to places with no motorable road connectivity.
Changa Dorji
