Pasakha Industrial Estate 6 July, 2010 - Parliament members yesterday decided to move the Pasakha school, which was built at a time when there were only two industries in the area, to a safer place, away from pollution.
That was until 2003 when more industries cropped up in the area.
The public accounts committee, which recommended relocating the school, said residents, teachers and students in the vicinity of the industries faced serious health risks from its toxic pollutants.
Most industries, committee chairman Sonam Penjore said, would close if the nation’s environmental rules were implemented stringently and penalties were imposed.
The economic affairs minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk said the government had already borne in mind the health hazards to teachers and students in Pasakha, following which they had already decided to relocate the school to Rinchending.
The minister explained how they stressed the need to maintain cleanliness and sanitation at the Pasakha industrial estate, and investigated between 2008 and 2009 on its improvement, and if they were following the rules prescribed to them.
He said the government and the private industries were working together to improve and preserve the environment around the industrial estate, which is under increasing threat from a growing number of industries.
The country’s economic development policy, he said, was geared towards that.
Trongsa parliament representative, Nidup Zangpo, saw a lack of firmness in implementing the stringent rules and policies as the core issue, rather than moving the school to another location.
The Chukha parliament member Chencho Dorji informed the house that the construction of the new school in Rinchending was in progress, and that it would be ready for students to move in some time next year.
Source: kuenselonline.com |
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