Natural Resource Development Corporation Limited (NRDCL) in Zhemgang has had more than Nu 6 M worth of unsold timber at its depot in Hoomdar in Tingtibi since last year. People there are now concerned about the wastage of public resources and are asking the NRDCL to sell the timber at a subsidised rate before it is too late.
The office had extracted about 60,000 cubic feet (cft) of mixed hardwood logs from the nearby forest in Kikhar last year. Before it could sell the logs, the pandemic struck the country disrupting the market for wood products. Today summer has taken its toll on the logs with the depot looking like a deserted mushroom farm. People are now asking the authorities to find a way to at least salvage what is left of the huge stock.
“We can see that all the logs are lying idle and simply decaying. It does not benefit anyone; neither can the public use it nor can the government make revenue. The logs are rotting and it’s a waste of public resources,” said a resident of Tingtibi.
“If the logs are segregated separately for housing and furniture, I don’t think there won’t be any buyers because what we see at the depot is all the logs are mixed and dumped together. I feel this could be the main reason why people don’t come to buy,” added another.
To address this issue, the NRDCL and the divisional forest office had several rounds of meetings and has even stopped timber extraction for now. NRDCL officials said they are planning to saw all the logs and sell them. So far, from over 60,000 cfts, only a thousand cfts have been sold from the depot.
An official from the NRDCL regional office in Bumthang said one reason that people don’t come to buy timber from the depot is because of no sawmills nearby in Tingtibi. The nearest one is about 35 kilometres away from the depot.
Pema Samdrup, Zhemgang
Edited by Sonam
