The COVID-19 pandemic has forced sawmill owners to shut down their businesses in Zhemgang. This has affected the construction and woodwork businesses in the district. Local contractors are not able to meet deadlines without timbers in the absence of a sawmill.
Completing construction works has been a struggle for the local contractors in Zhemgang without timbers. They had to buy and transport timbers from Bumthang. Although the Natural Resources Development Corporation Limited’s (NRDCL) depot at Hoomdar has timbers, the local contractors say they cannot buy as it is not usable.
“Here, we do not get timbers as there is no sawmill. We have to buy from Bumthang which is very expensive inclusive of all the charges. Here we get log type timber from the NRDCL but it is not useable because it easily gets infected and damages very fast,” said Sonam Jamtsho, a contractor in Zhemgang.
“Without sawmills here, we are facing many problems. Most often we have to depend on a power chainsaw which is expensive,” added Pradhan, an owner of a furniture house.
“In Zhemgang, we do not have a single sawmill. So it is difficult to get timbers. We use a power chainsaw but the hiring charge is high. So it is expensive and also time-consuming. For example, at the sawmill, they charge only around Nu 30,000 at the max but for a chainsaw, we have to pay over Nu 100,000,” said Tenzin Wangchuk.
According to the Zhemgang Divisional Forest office, the district has two registered sawmills. But one was closed around three years ago. The other one was closed last year due to the pandemic. It is waiting for the Indian labourers to return to resume business.
“For the time being, we have approved a mobile sawmill to cater to locals and meet requirements outside the dzongkhag. It has been serving the purpose for both private and the government to date,” said Jigme Dorji, the district’s Chief Forestry Officer.
As of today, the divisional forest office has not received any proposals for new sawmills in the district.
Pema Samdrup, Zhemgang
