1 TRANSLATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND ... - APFA News

local Forest Office. This takes about 1 to 2 months. In order to save time, the
whole process should be completed in the Dzongkhag.
A Royal Advisory Councillor thanked the Punakha Chimi for the submission on
the issue of rural timber allotment. He also expressed his hope that other
members would also similar views since all the people in the country face such
problems. Act and Rules are formulated by the Government to address the
problems faced by the people. 80 trees for house construction in the rural areas
would only give 240 cham which is not enough to cover the timber
requirements in the traditional architectural designs. The allotted 4 drashing
would cover only the basic timber requirement for flooring and, windows etc.
Even if the house were an average sized one, the allotted amount of timber
would certainly not be sufficient.
The Councillor pointed out that leaving alone other requirements, the allotted 6
cham and 2 drashing for the renovation of a house is hardly enough for the
beams supporting the trusses. It would, therefore, be appreciated if the
Assembly in the current session could consider these issues and agree on
affordable cost. On the matter of timber purchase, he said that those people
living within a kilometer of a motorable road is permitted to buy 2000 cft. of
timber. The wealthy ones with rental income can afford to buy the timber.
However, those who take loan from financial institutions and the poorer people
would not be able to buy even though the timber is provided at a subsidized rate
of Nu.94.60 per cft. These people, therefore, would have to extract timber from
the forest manually and with great difficulty. Therefore, the Assembly needs to
consider this issue widely and deeply to address the difficulties and problems of
the people.
The Bumthang Chimi submitted that the allotment of the subsidized timber for
house construction and renovation as per the existing Rules are definitely not
adequate. As for the purchase of timber from the sawmills, the charges for the
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