Works and Human Settlement Minister Dorji Tshering presided over the ground breaking ceremony for widening and improving the 7.3km Kurizampa- Gyalpoizhing road yesterday.
Meanwhile, the road is a part of the vital network that connects five eastern Dzongkhags to the growing economic hubs of Gyalpoizhing and Nanglam towns and further on to the vast Indian market.
According to the press release from the De-suung Office, inspired by His Majesty The King’s encouragement calling on the youth to come forward to build our nation better and stronger out of the pandemic, the Office of the De-suung considered several options. The idea of piloting a road construction project was proposed in view of the potential to train and engage the De-suups in areas critical for nation building and beneficial for our youth.
“This pioneering road project undertaken by the De-suung in partnership with the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement follows the highly successful water projects implemented by De-suups across 20 Dzongkhags over the past year,” states the press release.
Meanwhile, the De-suung National Service project has been designed to build capabilities of the De-suups in all aspects of road construction so that they can become skilled workers, competent supervisors, effective managers and capable contractors in the future.
The project has recruited a road designer, a project manager and an engineer from a well reputed Japanese company to train the De-suups and oversee the project. The objective is to benchmark the quality of the road construction to leading international standards with adequately designed road geometry, slope protection works, drainages, cross drainages, and proper road signs.
In addition, the pilot project also seeks to demonstrate the capability of Bhutanese to undertake infrastructure projects that are completed at cost and on time. Under normal circumstances and existing timeline, the widening of the 7.3km road is estimated to take more than 20 months. The pilot project will aim to complete the project in 12 months through meticulous planning, mechanization and by having two shifts per day to speed up the works.
Given the profound Royal Vision, the ambitious scope and the pioneering challenge, over 100 De-suups have signed up for the pilot project that will integrate in-class sessions with on-the-job training at the site. Furthermore, 12 De-suups are currently being trained in operating heavy machines for road construction.
The Director General of the Department of Roads expressed full confidence in the successful execution of this project based on the enthusiasm and commitment of De-suups in executing water projects.
He also expressed optimism that the road project will have positive spillover in improving many other aspects of the construction sector besides skilling the De-suups in road construction.
Staff Reporter from Thimphu
Picture Curtesy: Kuensel
