His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

26 December 2022:

His Majesty the King graced the inauguration of the Kurizam-Gyalposhing Highway, built under the Desuung National Service Road Project. The inauguration ceremony was presided over by His Holiness the Je Khenpo.

The road was widened and improved to a higher standard with the aim to pilot quality road construction, develop best practices that can be disseminated in the industry and to develop a critical mass of the necessary skills, processes and practices in this critical area of nation building.

This pioneering road project was undertaken by De-Suung in partnership with the Ministry of Works and Human Settlements following the highly successful water projects implemented by De-Suups across 20 Dzongkhags over the past years.

The project was 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.

Towards that end, the project recruited a road designer, a material engineer and a project manager from a well reputed Japanese company to train the De-Suups and oversee the project. The objective of the project was to benchmark the quality of Bhutanese road construction to leading international standards with adequately designed road geometry, slope protection works, drainages, cross drainages, and proper road signs. It was also to sensitize and impart the best work culture, ethics and professionalism to our youth.

The 7.3 km road was built in exactly one year, starting from 17th December 2021. A total amount of Nu. 238 million was spent including procurement of specialized machines, hiring of international experts, and other trainings and logistics. A total of 167 De-Suups were engaged in the project. Six of them are now trained as skilled operators in specialized machines, 3 in surveying and 13 as skilled construction workers. All of them are equipped to assist and understand general construction practices.

While in Gyalpozhing, His Majesty also visited the Bongderma Gyalsung Academy Site and granted an Audience to the people working there.