PDP says it will do away with Pedestrian Day

Today, most people in urban areas across the country will either be walking to work or using public transport as Pedestrian Day is followed to commemorate the World Environment Day on June 5.
A Press Release sent by the Cabinet Secretariat on behalf of the Interim Government says, “In keeping with the prevailing policy decisions of the Royal Government issued earlier vide Government Circular No. C-3/146/338 of 22 November 2013, June 5, World Environment Day shall be observed as Pedestrian Day every year in the country.”
The release goes onto to say that the Cabinet Secretariat would, therefore, like to remind all enforcing agencies across the nation to ensure that the Pedestrian Day is observed from 8.00 AM to 6.00 PM on 5th June 2013, as done on the first Sundays of each month.
The PDP president Tshering Tobgay has said that he and his party does not agree and has never agreed with the concept of Pedestrian Day.
He said, “One of the promises of PDP is that if we form the government we will immediately do away with Pedestrian Day.”
He explained that PDP had listed the doing away of Pedestrian Day, as one of the first programs in the first 100 days period of his government.
He said, “Pedestrian day in being implemented does not meet the stated objectives. You are not encouraging but forcing people to walk, making people unhappy, compromising with the dignity of the people and affecting efficacy.”
The PDP president said that while he was happy to walk, but that does not mean that he also forces others to walk. He said that apart from affecting ordinary people Pedestrian Day also affected the economy negatively.
He said that PDP, if voted to power, would do away with the mandatory Pedestrian Day, and instead replace it with other non mandatory initiatives.
“We can instead educate and encourage people to walk, make it easier and safer to walk, promote healthy living and make it fashionable to walk,” said the PDP president.
Tshering Tobgay said that the enforcing the Pedestrian Day on the World Environment Day was a wasted opportunity. “Instead of celebrating the day and making people aware you are essentially forcing them to walk to office and work,” he said.
Meanwhile, DPT’s Yeshey Zimba said that his party had not thought on the issue of Pedestrian Day as yet. “We have not thought about it yet, but later we will see it as per the convenience of the people.” The former minister declined to comment on the stand taken by PDP.

 

Tenzing Lamsang

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50 comments

  1. I want PDP to do away with the vehicle import imposed by former DPT government (Druk Prado Party) from third countries because people need material comforts for travelling. 
    When rich people have already bought sufficient vehicles for themselves ( I don’t know how many vehicles Jigme Y Thinley has at the moment), I don’t understand why other citizens cannot buy for their travels as well. Are we setting class systems among citizens? 
    If citizens are not allowed to buy third country vehicles, ministers should also walk like everywhere, travel by public transports, like any citizen.
    PDP, please do away with this class concept introduced by the Druk Prado Party government. 

    • You know why the RGOB has banned the import of vehicles, it is not only of the rupee crunch it is also because we have too many vehicles already and too few roads. Now think of the country as a whole and not your selfish needs.

      • Flabbergasted

        And the few powerful people have already bought and have what they want. And talking about selfish, this “good” for nothing fellow walks this forum defending his master JYT not for the good of the nation, but for some very personal and SELFISH reasons. Talk about hypocrisy.

        • Read Karma’s post below and if anything my reason is not selfish but Dorji’s is.

        • Good, you need to rationalize your defending keeping the ground reality whether it really benefit the grassroots. When you are in support or oppose of any issue you should not lost your human dignity just to support or defend certain individual or party benefit. 
          For instance, I agree with the justification of doing away the pedestrian day. 

      • Good, to me, you are a communist and a dictator because you think that rest of the people in bhutan cannot enjoy material comforts while other people do live in material comforts so lavishly. If citizens of bhutan are human being, human being have needs and wants. Due to this, a person cannot dictate to another person saying you cannot have what I have. 
        Don’t give me your bogus, unfounded lack of road reason for the stupid ban.
        If lack of road is the reason, build roads, don’t ban cars. If roads cannot be built, use horses, everyone; or everyone walk.
        But to stop other citizens buying cars is introducing class structure, and the society will crumble; and each one of us will suffer. 
        Think this way; not in your communist, dictatorial, class system perspective. If bhutan breeds more of your type and thinkers, poverty and bhutan known as impoverished nation on this planet will continue every 1000 centuries from now.
        Wake up buddy. Use your brain; don’t waste it.

        • Nothing to do with being a communist or a dictator, I am just using common sense which you seem to have very little of. Firstly, we have a rupee crunch and secondly we don’t have enough roads for all the cars, haven’t you seen, if you walk around at night, Thimphu has become a giant car park, likewise all other urban too have become car parks. As for building roads, we just can’t afford to build roads leading to nowhere, that’s why I say, you lack common sense. If, on the other hand, you advocated a better public transport system, I would agree with you.

          Doji, please, the keyword here is common sense.

    • PDP will lift the import of vehicles , they want singye , zimdra, Honda etc  to make profits and make the conditions of bhutan miserable like other countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, etc.” Prevention is better than cure”. 

      • Flabbergasted

        Selling cars ruins a nation? My friend, CORRUPTION is the one thing that can really ruin a nation. And your DPT is full of corrupted people top down. Our nation will be better off if we concentrated more on preventing corruption than preventing the sale of cars but with people like you, they will only see what they are being told to see.

        • What corruption are you talking about, please with proof and after 2008. Reading to much of your bible, the Bhutanese or what.

  2. Haha, PDP dreaming of forming the government, not going to happen in a long long time, but II will give the OL 200% for optimism, no wonder Lyonpo Zimba declined to comment. on the PDPs stand.

  3. Having or not having Pedestrian Days on Sundays need to be thought of, but I think it is most befitting to have P-Day on the World Environment Day every year. It is an opportune time to contribute our bit for the cause of our environment.

    • Flabbergasted

      Are you blind? Have you not seen the traffic jams during pedastrian day? The little benefit we get by not allowing people to drive in towns is offset by the pollution caused by cars sitting idle at traffic jams. Not to mention the time wasted for the people and also the time and resources wasted for RBP manning every checkpoint and managing traffic.

      This DPT knew very well that the pedestrian day didn’t work, but they won’t admit it and remove it because of the huge egos their leaders have.

      Governments that impose their useless rules on its people deserve to be thrown out. Esp this DPT, a party that doesn’t consult its people, doesn’t listen to its people, doesn’t take criticisms well, and one which is arrogant as fuck.

  4. Do it away, its a torture and hassle in southern Bhutan which is very hot and humid in summer

    • P-day is on 1st Sunday of the month only, why dont you take rest under fan and AC room at home or go for shopping after 6PM when it will be cool and fresh.

      • save the world

        please ,we are not in 19th Century ,where people go to work only at 9 and takes off on sundays…Today In 21st century we have more people like hoteliers,hospitals ,travel agents etc even working on sundays..wake up Mr .Laksam

    • tell that to the nyamchungs too

  5. PDP can also say they will do away with all form of taxes….some actions will fetch votes but as party, they should be motivated by interests of people even if some actions are not liked by people. There is difference between populist and popular decision….

    • PDP can also say they will stop PunaTsangchu-I & II, bypass road from Damchu to Chukha, Stop City bus services so that everyone buys cars from Zimdra as a result drain all the little rupee that Bhutan has.What is PDP not doing all upside down. For them upside down is right side up!

  6. Why did Tshering Tobgay walked for Health from Tashigang to Thimph with former Minister SN. It had some noble cause, didn’t it? Likewise PD too may have one.

    • Flabbergasted

      They walked from Tashigang to Thimphu. They didn’t force the people to walk with them. That is the difference, blind rat!

    • Tshering Tobgay walked voluntarily and he also wants people to observe the day voluntarily not forcibly like DPT. You can’t force whimsy noble causes down the throat of people.  Just like you can’t eat for me, you can’t think for me. You can only suggest and it’s up to the people whether to go for it or not. DPT doesn’t understand this. They use fear or lure tactics in every case. 

      • Tshering Tobgay walked because he was a chamcha of Lyonpo SN, that’s how got to Harvard, so stop the bullshit.

  7.  i will vote for PDP ONLY.

  8. If PDP is elected, they may not required official vehicle as they have too much concerned for the well being of general people and economic crisis of nation.

    At times, PDP always try to do just opposite of what DPT has done. Hope they will not close all the firm roads cleared by DPT for the sake for opposing , every word and intention indicate otherwise.

  9. PDP will stop the pedestrian day because this party only thinks of wooing voters, but lack sense of patriotism. Pedestrian day is not for people’s convenience, but for the country’s environment. The narrowminded PDP leaders fail to understand the broadminded initiatives of DPT. PDP is always thinking of importing vehicles and increasing fuel consumption so that Zindra, Damchen and Singye companies prosper. I don’t like pedestrian day, but I like the initiative as a whole because I think for the country.

    • Flabbergasted

      For that matter, lets just stop importing anything from outside. Almost everything that we eat out of is wrapped in plastic. Plastic is bad for environment.  Lets just stop building roads and houses as it involves cutting down of trees and hence bad for the environment.
      Lets go back to living in caves. That will do wonders for the environment.

      When it comes to car dealers, at least Honda, Zimdra etc. seem to be functioning without any corruption. On the other hand, the one time JYT’s son or relative gets into the car business, its smeared with corruption (City Bus Fiasco) and another of his relative has sold sub standard Chinese vehicles. So mind it, its not only zimdra who sells cars.

  10. Hey good, if you think the vehilce number is escalating, None should ply on roads and none should further purchase any even for the Ministries, departments, big bosses and riches. Equity and justice was one of the DPTs slogan. Be fair to all. Don’t only tie up lower rungs of the people. Don’t lift the bans when time and turns come to you to buy. Every single person in Bhutan affords to have one should equally possess as you friking did. There are many youngsters and new prospects coming up, so they should equally should have an opputunity to dirve in the roads of Bhutan not only you guys. Roads is for all who wishes to ply not for few who claim to have come from haven and are of allien. Instead you are damn selfish and egoistic but not Mr. Flabergasted as you blindly baselessly pointed out. You better go to hell.

    • Another idiot who only thinks of his own comfort, I won’t respond to the other things you have said, as I cannot understand any of it.

  11. Each coin has two sides. When 3rd country vehicles were imported, it was justified. Now it is stopped, there was reason.  To exercise freedom of wills is privilege for citizens but using wills wisely is necessity. Thanks.

  12. Never understood why DPT started the Ped day in the first place. They enforced rules using police, who were ordered to not let a single vehicle inside the town. Business in border towns like P/ling and S/jongkhar dried up as people walked across the border to do shopping. While in bigger towns, some people drove around the town as they had to reach children to school or go to hospital, leading to extra fuel burning and costs, defeating the very stated objective of Ped day. We might have more bans and high handed policies if DPT is back in power.

  13. Tshering Tobgay did not volunteer to walk. He walked in order to please his master because he was his master’s puppet. This puppet will do anything that people tell him to do. He returned the Prado only after some forum posters instated him to do. If some of you tell him to eat poison, he will.

  14. There is an impending crisis on congestion in our small cities. Pedestrian day was not implemented properly and was a wasted opportunity to improve conditions for the majority of the people who are walking and taking public transport. These people are the mainly the “Nyamchungs” and but also include health-concsious people who walk or take public transport.

    I would like to see how the next government handles the rupee crisis, the booming vehicle population and increasing fuel consumption, increasing non-communicable diseases, increasingly ugly and polluted cities, increasing traffic accidents and fatalities, while at the same time not pandering to Taxi drivers (the most uncouth and unprofessional-professional group of drivers). By the way, ,more taxis hanging out at a taxi parking lot is not the solution either.

  15. I have by now read lots of comments and articles on the Pedestrian’s Day. In general, the Pedestrian’s Day is a very good initiative so that we can atleast try to protect and preserve our environment in wahtever small way we can, although it is like a drop of water in the ocean. Unfortunately, forcing the Pedestrian’s Day on the population is not very positive. Instead, the government can consider an alternative to this unpopular act so that can help in protecting our environmment. People are saying that there are too many cars and people want to buy cars. Yes. let them as it is now a necessisity and not a luxury in this present time. If we are very much concerned with the environmental affect due to lots of cars, there are solutions to tackle that. One solution can be that the government make a law like those similar to European countries where you are allowed only one car per family. If a family has more than one car, tax heavily on the additional cars in percentages per additioanl car/s per family.
    The other solution is to improve the public transportation in effectiveness and efficiency. There are more solutions but I thought the above two toops my list of solutions.

  16. I will vote for PDP just to own Indian Maruti van in vehicle loan, housing loan and to eradicate P-day.

    • Wow, Sameer, you are exactly the type of people that we in our country can do without.

      • DumbEconomist

        And ‘good’ you are exactly a sample of our population that dons an educated hat but carries muck inside that hat.

  17. One vote=one car=700,000/-cars.

  18. It is good to know that PDP is planning to do many things. No Pedestrian Day. While PDP’s initiative is welcome, we should not forget the larger picture behind this. Helicopter service is required but what we should also think is pilot, airfield, human resources, etc etc. It is good that taxation ceiling will be raised, but who will pay our civil servants, how will we run our schools and hospitals, from where will the money come? I like the idea of setting up Banks but how will we meet the costs to run? Which Bank will operate at a loss? Doing so will be against the normal practices of Banks… making profits. There are certainly aspects that we need to look at the promises of DPT as well. We need a party that will not only make us happy and but one that will not forget our future generations. Short term benefits must be weighed against long terms benefits.

  19. Sorry brother kids, old grandparents, victims suffering from hazardous diseases, etc, cannot drive la, so number of cars should be less but wealthier people having 5-20 cars certainly could lead to that figure u have mentioned la..

  20. how long can they follow this people friendly policy? people will have many wants. or they don’t have brains of their own and so shall do whatever people say ..all in the name of democracy…

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