The Bhutanese Leading the way.
On the first day of hearing at the Construction Development Boards arbitration committee the Ministry of Information and Communication Deputy Executive Engineer, Gyem Dorji admitted that there had been lapses and overpayment in the construction of the Gelephu airport.
As per the Royal Audit Authority report Nu 78.27 mn had been overpaid for surfacing of the airport and the MoIC and the Department of Civil Aviation had been accordingly instructed to recover the amount.
The construction company Tashi Kunzom who had constructed the Gelephu airport had brought this issue among other grievances before the arbitration committee against the MoIC saying that he had not been overpaid.
According to a reliable source the engineer representing MoIC disagreed with the contractor and in fact admitted that there had been some errors due to which the contractor was overpaid.
The MoIC representative was also there to represent the MoIC against the other claims of the contractor.
The contractor had approached the arbitration committee when the MoIC based on the RAA report had sent a letter to the contractor asking him to repay the overpaid amounts and redo some work.
The RAA report had also shown Nu 24.94 mn in over payments for earthwork excavation and transportation. They came to this figure after a joint survey was done by officials of RAA, Ministry of Works and Human Settlement and the National Land Commission.
The RAA report had also uncovered Nu 23.67 mn in unjustified payments for transportation of spoil material.
In both the above cases arbitration committee members indicated that no arbitration could be done as it was a technical measurement issue. Some members suggested that the RAA could redo the measurement in the presence of the contractor for his satisfaction.
The RAA report, a copy of which has been sent to the Prime Minister and Anti Corruption Commission among other agencies points out Nu 121.61 mn in illegal overpayments and Nu 114.88 mn in wasteful expenditure on domestic airports.
The MoIC had until March 31st 2013 to give an action taken report on the issue to the RAA along with any further clarifications.
The Bhutanese which tried to get the latest status of MoIC’s action taken report was refused information by the ministry.
Here goes our tax payers’ hard earned money down the drain. What a waste? There are other departments and agencies, who could have invested the fund in equipment at a fraction of this wasted amount. This could have been well utilized for strengthening delivery of justice and upholding the law which would benefit the entire population from all walks of life.
The agencies enforcing the acts/laws are under funded, while the corrupt ministries & agencies are over funded. This reflects the way GNH is conducted and marketed in country. This is the state of the governance, a pillar going rogue.
It appears that there was negligence on the part of supervising officials and they have to be accountable plus face the consequences as deemfit.
Public money f#**## by f*### ministry
Taz payer’s money? What the fart? How much do tap payers pay in year? May be cost two building in Thimphu.
Having said that guilty should be punished but this paper is becoming more of justice delivering judgment without trail and less of watch dog…
Defox, What the f*** you’re talking about? Do understand what really Tax is? and cost of two building is cheap for you? though it is cost of single needle, it is public resource. Public resource should be spent usefully with clear accountability. This particular paper didn’t declare any judgement. It acted as lens to view what really happening in ministry. Likewise any other media does in world wide. Few years back BBC news front lined saying “Bhutan monk faces jail for anti-smoking law violation”. Whole article was insult for our country and government, being first nation(Buddhist ) on globe to ban tobacco and punishing poor monk for his misdeed. BBC quoted “A Buddhist monk is likely to face five years in prison for violating strict anti-smoking laws in the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan”. That time the judgement for monk hasn’t passed yet. So can we say that BBC is delivering judgment just upon highlighting the fact? We have to understand the role of media first and the raise the issue of content.
Defox?? if not tax payers money, whose money it is? you may argue it is grant money but dont you think grants and loans are your people of bhutan? you may dislike or get frustrated with the paper but dont insult the intelligence of bhutanese people..Dauhh!!!!