inside story inauguration of pangrizampa bazam (kuensel)quarterly news letter volume 5; issue ii...

1Quarterly Newsletter Ministry of Works & Human Settlement

ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN

MINISTRY OF WORKS & HUMAN SETTLEMENT THIMPHU: BHUTAN

“Construction Industry: Solution Through Innovation and Improved Technology“

QUARTERLY NEWS LETTER

Volume 5; Issue II www.mowhs.gov.bt January-March 2016

Inside Story

Inauguration of Pangrizampa Bazam

Dzongkhag Engineering Co-ordination Meeting

Semtokha-Khelakha Highway

Staff General Meeting Book Launch Earthquake Resistant Construction TrainingDzongkha Unicode Training Pciture Story

Inauguration of Pangrizampa Bazam (Kuensel)

Her Majesty The Gyalyum Sangay Choden Wangchuck inaugu-rated a bazam at Pangrizampa, Thimphu on 24th February 2016 to commemorate the 400th year of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal’s arrival in the country

Built on the inspiration, patronage, and advise of Her Majesty, the 17-metre wooden cantilever bridge adds a major component to the monastery. Her Majesty The Gyalyum said that it was most auspicious that the bridge is now restored to its past glory as the country celebrates these historic occasions the birth year of Guru Rinpoche, the 60th birth anniversary of the Fourth Druk Gyalpo and the birth of the HRH Gyalsey.

“The hope and assurance of yet another generation of unprecedented leadership and continuance of the legacy of monarchs in the service of the people,” Her Majesty said. The bazams have architectural, cultural, and religious signifi-cance. Given the geographical terrain Bhutanese ancestors have always relied on the bridges for travel across many steep valleys and rushing rivers. >>>continued in page 2

Dzongkhag Engineering Co-ordination Meeting (DES)

The Department of Engineering Services, Ministry of Works and Human Settlement organized a two day Dzongkhag Engineering Co-ordination meeting from 3rd to 4th March 2016 at Gelephu Higher Secondary School, Gelephu, Sarpang. The two day meeting chaired by Hon’ble Secretary, MoWHS saw participants from dzongkhags and municipalities.

The two day meeting adopted the following resolutions;

1. 1. For safety of the users and to ensure that institutional, commercial and public buildings perform its intended purpose, the meeting resolved that soil bearing capacity tests should be carried out for all such structures.

This requirement shall be made mandatory through an Executive Order from the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement, where requirements and exceptions will be clearly spelt out.

>>>continued in page 2


>>>continued from page 1Pangrizampa Bazam Inauguration......

“These bridges have always remained the fundamental part of our livelihood and survival. But with modernization it has become significantly important and challenging to restore and preserve such national monuments not only for their unmatched architectural grandeur and utility, but also as a gift to our future generations,” Her Majesty said.

Lam Ngawang Choegyal an ancestor of Zhabdrung Rinpoche built Pangrizampa monastery in the 15th century. Zhabdrung had a vision of a raven perched on a tree near a monastery asking him to visit the southern lands. When he visited the country in 1616, he recognised the monastery from his vision and it became his first seat in the country.

Thus, the monastery holds great significance to the country and this traditional bridge has been an integral part of the monastery serving as the crucial mode of communication between the two communities on the either side of the river. Over time the bridge wore out and only remnants remained until Her Majesty sought the works and human settlement ministry to build a bazam.

It took 20 artisans from 20 dzongkhags five months to complete the bridge with a budget of Nu five million.

Works and human settlement minister Dorji Choden said it was the ministry’s mandate to promote and preserve traditional Bhutanese architecture. “The bazams are unique architecture of the country,” she said. “The ministry implemented it using local artisans and not hand over the project on contract to individuals.”

Her Majesty also awarded graduation certificates to five degree and four diploma graduates of the monastery who completed and passed the central monk body’s examinations last year.

>>>continued from page 1Engineering Coordination Meeting ......

2. There was a lot of discussion on the pros and cons of restricting building heights in the rural areas.However, in the interest of maintaining the rural landscape and preserving unique architectural traditions and values, the meeting resolved that all Dzongkhag Engineering Sectors should continue to enforce the maximum num-ber of floors permitted in such areas as per “Rural Con-struction Rules, 2013”.

3. There are many cases where proponents put up for vertical extension of their existing buildings in those areas where the Local Area Plans and Development and Control Regulations allow for more storeys. The meeting resolved that the proponents must provide “as built” drawings and tests results for those existing buildings that they propose to extend to determine the structural integrity of the structure.

If the proposed extension is found to be architecturally compliant and structurally safe, competent authorities may allow the addition of appropriate number of floors on the existing buildings.

4. To ensure that rural water supply systems are functional once commissioned, the Dzongkhag Engineering Sectors may forward the design of large and complex rural water supply systems to the Department of Engineering Services, if it is beyond the technical capacity of the Dzongkhag engineers. However, such requests shall be routed through the Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health conforming to the provisions of the Water Act, where MoH is responsible for water and sanitation services in the rural areas.

5. The ministry is mandated to ensure that safe, reliable and adequate drinking water is provided to residents in the urban areas. However, inadequate and erratic water supply in urban towns still exist. Water losses as a result of mis-management, use of duplicate plumbing materials and use of unskilled workers were pointed as some of the reasons for this scenario.

Hence the meeting resolved that apart from carrying out proper designs, the implementing agencies put in extra effort in ensuring water supply construction works use genuine materials and employ only skilled plumbers.

6. As per the Bhutan Civil Service Rules and Regulations and the Civil Service Act, all engineers are required to be transferred after minimum of 4 years and maximum of 5 years in one place. Under the current practice, the ministry, as far as possible, transfers engineers in consultation with the Agency concerned and based on engineers’ choices of places.

Gyalyum Sangay Choden Wangchuk inaugurates the Pangrizampa Bazam



Participants for the Dzongkhag Engineering Coordination Meeting at Gelephu Higher Secondary School


Even after carrying out such consultations, transfer orders are sometimes not adhered to causing a lot administrative/managerial obstacles for both the relieving and the receiving Dzongkhag Engineering Sectors. Therefore, it was agreed that except for serious health and grave personal issues, all engineers must abide by the transfer orders once it is issued by the ministry.

7. The Department/Ministry shall continue to source funds to support capacity development of all the engineers in the Dzongkhags, through both in-country and ex-country study visits.

8. There are instances where Departments/Ministry has to be technically involved in the construction of infrastructures in the local governments- dzongkhags, gewogs, thromdes. It was discussed that the central department/ministry, as far as possible, will be engaged only in technical backstopping, providing guidance on issues related to policies, rules, regulations, guidelines and standards.

It was agreed that the Dzongkhag Engineering Sector must continue to take full ownership of contract administration, and related concerns like substandard works, excess payments, time and cost overruns etc, for construction works at the Dzongkhags and Gewogs.

9. With the declaration of 16 new Dzongkhag Throms and 20 Yenlag Throms, structural plans and local area plans for these towns have to be prepared to control and regulate the expansion and development of these towns. Therefore, it was resolved that Dzongkhag Administration must secure funds for the preparation of the plans and intimate the Department of Human Settlement. Department of Human Settlement shall provide assistance in outsourcing, reviewing

and approving the plans prepared by the Consultants since the department is also facing shortage of staff to prepare these plans in-house.

10. Flood hazard maps were identified as a critical compo-nent of any infrastructure planning and development. At the moment such maps have been prepared for a few Dzongkhags like Bumthang, Trongsa and Zhemgang. The Department of Engineering Services shall therefore take up the preparation of hazard maps for the remaining Dzongkhags, as these would provide important input for development of any infrastructure and human settlement planning.

11. For major works and projects such as flood protection and large water supply works, the budget is currently maintained with the Department of Engineering Services. This was done because the Department was technically responsible to ensure such facilities and services throughout the country, and also due to financial rules that capped a maximum amount that could be maintained at the Dzongkhag and Gewog levels. This arrangement resulted in coordination issues including hindrance to timely release of funds and taking ownership of the projects.

The meeting resolved that to overcome similar issues in the future, as far as possible, budgets for infrastructure development works, henceforth shall be maintained by the respective Dzongkhag Administrations.

12. Engineers in the Dzongkhags are perceived as “Jack of all trades and master of none”, on account of the numerous and diverse engineering and administrative works they carry out. >>>continued in page 4



In order to move away from this stereotype and promote specialization, the Dzongkhag Engineering Sector should be reorganized. The new Dzongkhag Engineering Sectors will comprise of two teams, one team comprising of planning and design engineers who shall be entirely entrusted with the planning and design of all engineering works. The other team shall comprise of construction engineers who should specialize in contract administration, management, and monitoring of construction projects. The meeting therefore resolved that the Department of Engineering Services shall follow up with the RCSC for approval of the reorganization.

13. A number of shortcomings were raised by the Dzongkhag Engineers while implementing works directly awarded to the communities in the gewogs, under the Community Contract Protocol e.g absence of security deposit or performance guarantees; lack of skilled people resulting in substandard works; delays and non-comple-tion of works.

The meeting resolved that the ministry would review the Community Contract Protocol and submit for amendment to the relevant agency, if required for any changes.

14. There is a long-standing grievance among the government engineers that it is the responsibility of both the procuring agency and the contractor to ensure the successful completion of a project, and not government engineers alone. However, currently, the government engineers are solely made accountable for any deficiency in the implementation of a project. It is strongly felt that the contractors must be held more responsible for their lapses in supervision resulting in substandard works.

It was unanimously agreed that the ministry must initiate to institute an audit clearance system for contractors to make them more responsible and accountable to improve the quality of works in all government constructions. The proposal to make audit clearance requirement a mandatory document during the renewal of contractors’ license will be submitted to the Construction Development Board.

15. Currently for large procurement works, when a contractor’s bid price is abnormally low, additional performance guarantee (generally in the form of a Bank Guarantee) is sought for the deviated amount beyond negative 20%, before the award of the work. In addition the bidders must also substantiate their bids with detailed rate analysis. This is being done to discourage contractors from submitting unrealistic bids in their endeavour to secure works. Such practices usually result in poor work quality and time over runs.

(i) However, since the banks easily issue Bank Guarantees to contractors, the meeting agreed that this additional

performance guarantees should henceforth be submitted in cash warrants, a condition that must be clearly reflected in the bidding documents. Upon expiry of validity of cash warrant after six months, it may be substituted with a Bank Guarantee. This requirement is to be applicable to all sizes of works.

(ii) In cases where a contractor’s bid price is abnormally low i.e lower than 20% of the estimate, and if the procuring agencies decide to award the work to such contractors, the amount saved to the extent of the percentage of quoted rates beyond negative 20%, could be used to hire additional human resource. The additional manpower can be exclusively engaged for the same project to ensure quality and timely completion of the project. It was therefore decided that the ministry shall submit this proposal for government’s approval.

16. In most Dzongkhags, by default, the Dzongkhag Engineering Sector is responsible for ‘Chadi’ works in preparation for visiting dignitaries and officials. Considering that the engineers are the most over-burdened professionals, and most Dzongkhags have shortage of engineers, this additional responsibility greatly hinders delivery of en-gineering services, especially monitoring of construction sites.

The meeting resolved that the Dzongkhags must involve all sectors equally in the ‘Chadi” works, so that the burden on the engineers will be reduced. To this effect, it was decided that the ministry shall raise this issue with the relevant authorities and forums for implementation.

17. One of the major impediments to the timely delivery of services by the engineers in the Dzongkhags is the lack of mobility. With the arrival of farm roads in all gewogs, transportation has become even more relevant and crucial. The meeting therefore resolved that the ministry shall put up a proposal for subsidizing the cost of two wheelers for site engineers to enhance the movement of the engineers for site monitoring works.

18. The importance of measurement books (MB) was highlighted for maintaining records of construction works. However, a substantial amount of engineers’ time is spent on entering data in MB, which could be used for monitoring construction sites. It was therefore agreed that the Department of Engineering Services shall work out a viable alternative (combining provisions of Construction Manager and excel spreadsheet being practiced in Tsirang and Sarpang) that could replace the MB system of maintaining construction project records.



>>>continued from page 4

Engineering Coordination Meeting ......

19. As per the general consensus, the BSR will be published every two years. It was also agreed that the BSR Section under the Department of Engineering Services shall try to include new items like Bhutanese Debri painting, wood carving, wall putty, etc. In addition the Quick Cost Guide will be updated in the next issue of the BSR.

Road Widening at Semtokha-Khelakha Highway (DoR)

Hon’ble Minister visited road widening sites along Sem-tokha to Khelakha (Wangdue) highway on 18th February 2016. The Minister was accompanied by officials from Department of Roads. During her visit she interacted with contractors and site engineers to monitor the quality and the progress of the road widening works.

The contractors and engineers presented the status of work packages and work plan for completing the work in time during a brief meeting she had with contractors, engineers and officials present at the site. The minister was also informed about the mass movement of hill in Khelakha and water seepages in many stretches of the road which hampered the progress of the work.

Chief Engineer, Thimphu RO, describing the different layers of pavement (thickness) to Hon’ble Minister.

The contractors raised issue on delay of supplying bi-tumen which hinders the progress of the work at sites. On this, Hon’ble Lyonpo assured that MoWHS/ DoR are aware of the fact and we are committed to issuing required quantity of bitumen in time.

Tshering Tobgay Construction’s site engineer explaining to Zhabtog Lyonpo the difficulty they faced in this site due to water seepage which has hampered their progress.

General Staff Meeting (Kinzang Norbu, Accounts Officer, AFD & Sonam Pendon, Environment Officer, PPD)

The MoWHS General Staff Meeting organized by Administrative and Finance Division (AFD) on 28th March 2016 was attended by Dasho Secretary, Head of Departments and Divisions and the staffs of the Ministry. The meeting was chaired by Hon’ble Lyonpo.

In her opening remark, Hon’ble Lyonpo shared the achievements of the Ministry in the 11th Five Year Plan and also said that the activities were progressing well. It was also informed that the 30% of the Capital budget of the whole nation is handled by the Ministry. She also said that the approval to establish sixteen new dzongkhag Throms in the country is a big achievement for this Ministry.

The important tools scuh as Annual Performance Agree-ment must be fully leverged to help achieve our Ministry’s objective.

The meeting also discussed on the way the departments and divisions communicate with each other to achieve desired results for the ministry. Dasho Secretary informed the meeting that there should be a system in place to achieve the deliverables. Hon’ble Lyonpo instructed to institutionalize the system of monthly staff meeting within the respective departments and divisions.

The Human Resource Division (HRD) shared the new career progression initiated by RCSC, trainings and on new rules for maternity and paternity leave. The AFD made a presentation on Staff Welfare Schemes of the Ministry and the current bank balance of the respective SWSs.



>>>continued from page 5

General Staff Meeting......

The need to have a proper procedure on sharing the information to media houses was also discussed.

Hon’ble Lyonpo also requested if the departments and staffs could come up with ideas to commemorate four hundred years of Zhabdrug’s arrival to Bhutan, Birth year of Guru Rinpochhe, Birth Anniversary of HRH Gyalsey and the thirty years of Bhutan-Japan Friendship.

Magazine Launched to commemorate the 60th Birth Anniversary of Fourth Druk Gyalpo (PPD)

To commemorate the sixtieth birth anniversary of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuk, the Ministry launched the magazine titled “Infrastructure Development in Bhutan-A journey through time.” The magazine was launched by Hon’ble Lyonpo on 22nd January 2016 at the Ministry’s conference hall.

The magazine documents the institutional evolution, technological advancement and human resource expertise in the building of the nation through infrastructure devel-opment since the beginning of the planned development in the 1960s.

Hon’ble Lyonpo launched the magazine

Earthquake Resistant Construction Training (EARRD, DES)

The Engineering Adaptation and Risk Reduction Division under Department of Engineering Services conducted the t ra ining on Earthquake resis tant s tone masonry construction at Technical Training Institute at Dekiling, Bumthang from 9th to 12th December 2015.

A total of one hundred and thirty six trainees and instructors from masonry, carpentry and plumbing trade participated in the training program, out of which 9 were instructors. The four day training consisted of theoretical session on stone masonry with cement mortar and stone masonry construction with mud mortar. The hands on training were also conducted for the participants.

Participants and instructors with the EARRD officials at Dekiling Technical Training Institute


Training on Dzongkhag Unicode and Official Correspondence (AFD)

To improve and enhance the effective use of national language in both spoken and written for official correspon-dences and daily use, the ministry in collaboration with Dzongkhag Development Commission conducted a ten day training at Dzongkha Development Training Institute, Chubachu from 14th to 25th March 2016.

The participants were trained on the following topics; • How to install, use Dzongkha and Keyboard fonts;• How to use Ms Word, Ms Excel, Ms Power Point and

Publisher;• Usage of Golden Dictionary;• Creating Pecha (religious text);• Drafting office orders in Dzongkha.

The training is conducted on a yearly basis with a funding from Royal Government of Bhutan. The participants were also awarded course completion certificate.

Picture Story

Hon’ble Lyonpo with Mr. Shri Jaideep Sarkar, Ambassador of India to Bhutan at Hon’ble Minister’s Chamber

Hon’ble Lyonpo with Mr. Jishnu Roy Choudhury Ambassador of Bangladesh to Bhutan at Hon’ble Minister’s Chamber

Dzongkha Unicode trainees after receiving certificat with the DDTI Head and Ministry’s Official


Hon’ble Secretary with the recipients of Service Awards

Published by:-

Policy and Planning DivisionMinistry of Works & Human SettlementP.o.B# 791Opposite UNDP BuildingThimphu: Bhutan

Tele#+975-2-327998/322182/327451/322871Fax#+975-2-323121/323122/322270.

www.mowhs.gov.bte-mail: [email protected]

The Ministry of Works and Human Settlement would like to congratulate Hon’ble Lyonpo Dorji Choden on receiving Red Scarf from His Majestty the King

inside story inauguration of pangrizampa bazam (kuensel)quarterly news letter volume 5; issue ii...

Documents