To enhance the capacities of the auditors while auditing the hydropower sector in the country, a three-day training was held at the Professional Development Centre in Tsirang recently.
Fifty-six auditors attended the training.
The training included sessions on the development of hydropower projects, social impact assessment and other common issues confronted while auditing hydropower projects.
Today, there are four mega-hydropower projects under construction and a few more in the pipeline. The hydropower sector is also listed as one of the five jewels for socio-economic development.
“Senior auditors’ specialists in this field were superannuated and the new recruits are mostly fresh graduates. And to work in such area one requires immense skills. Therefore, we are focusing to develop their capacity, “Ugyen Dorji, the Deputy Auditor General said.
The training was conducted by two hydropower experts from Austria.
“The topography of Bhutan and Austria is similar. In compliance with the rules, you must have a fair but independent regulation and clearance of your project. I hope we have given some inputs on hydropower development in Bhutan,” Dr Klaus Walcher, the resource person, said.
As part of the training, the Royal Audit Authority (RAA)highlighted its achievements made possible with support from the Austrian Government.
The projects include piloting of Risk-based Audits, Training of Trainers, and auditing from the gender perspective.
The RAA also developed 22 audit manuals and two policy documents with the Austrian support.