The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) plans to start an inclusive and interactive centre in Thimphu under the JICA Partnership Program scheme with a Japanese partner organization and with a Bhutanese counterpart.
One of the potential challenges may be the immediate start of the construction of the project due to the construction regulations in the country right now.
The centre mainly aims to create job opportunities for persons with disabilities and create a place where anyone is welcome.
Such facilities are already available in Japan, known as Gochamaze, which is directly translated as jumble or mixed.
Yohei Nuruki of JICA said, “The main aim of this project is to create a more inclusive society and more opportunities for persons with disabilities.”
JICA has planned out a budget of around Nu 50 million for this project.
Experts from Japan have already visited the country in July and September this year and are going to visit regularly in the future. Two of them are long-term experts and are currently living here to implement the project with the Bhutanese counterpart. The experts have estimated that it will take approximately 2 years to be completed after the construction kicks off.
They are in cooperation with the Bhutanese organization and the project is yet to be finalized.
According to JICA, Japanese architects working on this project will be aligning the design with traditional Bhutanese styles and following the rules for construction as per the country’s regulations.
Experts will be coming from Japan to train the workers for the centre. The training and construction will take place simultaneously.
