The Bhutanese Leading the way.
During the nationwide cleaning campaign on the 9th of December, some 87 people from various communities under Thimphu Dzongkhag volunteered as community representatives to keep the city clean on a daily basis.
Thromde executives and community tshogpas under Thimphu Thromde had a discussion with with the Prime Minister and Thrompon on various initiatives and how the community volunteers are being used.
The communities includes Taba, Dechencholing, Kawajangsa, Jungshina, Motithang, Changangkha from the northern zone and Norzin, Changbangdu, Olakha and Babesa from the central and south zone where minimum of 5 community representatives are allocated for each area.
The Prime Minister, Tshering Tobgay, during the meeting said that the job it not impracticable. “If the places are divided into many sub-divisions under the care of respective tshogpas, it’s obvious to have this small city like ours to remain spotless throughout.”
Lyonchhen said that the capital should set an example to the other dzongkhags, gewogs, chiwogs and also set an image to the rest of the world. “It’s not only about cleaning; you can also take an opportunity to do the plantation of flowers and trees to make it look more vibrant,” he added.
To accelerate the work energy, Lyonchhen initiated the competition among the communities where the result will be announced on His Royal Highness the Gyalsey’s birth anniversary.
Lyonchhen pledged to meet with the community representatives and thromde executives on a monthly basis to discuss on issues and initiatives to keep the city clean where each cabinet minister will also be assigned a number of communities to monitor.
A total of 48.22 metric tonnes of waste is collected from the city daily of which 37.02 metric tonnes is dry waste and 11.02 tonnes of wet waste.
The Thromde spends Nu 2.13 million every month to collect and dispose garbage but the result was still undesirable. A total of 20 garbage trucks and compactors are outsourced to Greener Way and Clean City to help in the collection.
The challenge of limited infrastructure and spending hefty amounts for waste management can be curbed if people and community members take responsibility in contributing to keep the city clean according to the Thimphu Thrompon.
“It’s not only a responsibility of a concerned authorities and workers to keep the city clean, it will be difficult” he said adding that people should be concerned and get motivation from how His Majesty and the government is concerned.
Thimphu thromde spends a total of about Nu 2.135M (million) on collection and disposal of waste from the city every month. The work is outsourced to Greener Way and Clean City.
A total of Nu 80,000 in fines were collected from 131 individuals for illegal waste dumping and littering in public places since the nationwide cleaning campaign in December last year.
Strengthening the waste patrol system through new approach, waste segregation at source and mass cleaning by residents of respective localities every month are also some of the ways to go forward according to the Thromde.
