The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Waste management has been an issue whereby residents complain of poor and unsatisfactory service delivery. Residents hope that the new Thrompon and Tshogde can resolve this issue as one of the main priority and pending issues under Thimphu Thromde.
There is increasing illegal garbage dumping and littering which people claim is due to poor waste management by service providers.
Having to go to office, some drop it outside their homes thinking that it would be picked by the garbage collectors and some drop it to drop-in centers on a weekly basis.
Karma, a resident of Babesa, expressed that they are not sure if the garbage truck is coming on a weekly basis because they do not see the truck coming nor can they hear the siren of the garbage truck. “I have been residing at Babesa for past few years but I have never seen a garbage truck coming on time. When we complain they would come on time for a week or so and after that they again vanish,” she added.
She added that maybe the area is too big for them to cover at one go, however, after a first trip they do not return for a second round. It is challenging for them to manage garbage when they do not come on time, she said, adding that they go and dump their garbage at a drop-in center near Terma Linca Resort at Babesa.
She said, “Though me and my husband go to office, my family members back home has not seen a garbage truck coming no matter how vigilant they stay everyday. It would be nice if the service providers can enhance their services.”
Pemo who resides at Samarzingkha shared that they hardly see a garbage truck in their area. This can be a reason why people dump their garbage along the highway, she said.
She is an office goer and the waste collector has asked her to drop her garbage outside so that they can pick it up, however, her garbage was never picked and as a result the garbage are scattered around by the dogs.
She said, “I clean my garbage whenever I find them scattered by the dogs and this is why I do not drop my garbage. I take my garbage to Greener Way drop-in center in Hong-Kong market. It causes inconvenience as I have to take a cab in reserve just to drop the garbage. It becomes expensive for me as I have a limited income.”
However, Tshering, a resident of Babena said that though a garbage truck come in their location everyday they fail to dispose the garbage as they have to go to office and the garbage truck comes around 10 to 11 AM.
“Me and my wife tried leaving the garbage outside our house but they do not pick it up and leaves as it is. Since then we have not dropped garbage. We drop in to a dropping center, but it’s challenging when having to take wet waste until the center as the water leaks from the bag,” he added.
He claimed that it would be nice if the service providers can look for an alternative so to ensure clean city.
Likewise, there are numbers of residents at various locations with the same complaints against the waste management. On the other hand, people residing at Olakha, core town, some part of Babesa and Dechencholing are receiving the services on time.
Meanwhile, the service provider, Greener Way and Clean City in an earlier interview shared that people are not appreciating the complexity of the issue. They said, “We do receive complaints from public, 4 to 5 complaints a day to which they try to address immediately. As a service provider we can assure that there is no issue in the central area.”
Sometimes when the garbage truck breaks down then they get late to reach the designated places, otherwise they have no issues and are doing at their best, they added.
Thimphu Thromde is supposed to monitor the service providers.
