The Knowledge Economy..(3) - Positive Contribution

            I do not feel comfortable chasing name, fame, limelight and/or attention. May be  because I always thought power, position and/or authority as outcomes, not objectives.  Some might think I am insane and talking rubbish. The fact is I have never been desperate for success. I enjoy creating value, no matter how small. I believe success follows automatically. If I think I did something of a substance that is of some benefit, I am happy. But it is not charity. If I am not good to myself how can I be good to others. If others fail to recognize and/or appreciate what I did, its up to them and not my problem. I move on. A simple bloke with a straightforward thought, I am.

I worked for the Royal Government of Bhutan from 1973-90, of which 16 years were with Public Works Department (still known around as PWD), the biggest department in terms of number of workers and budget in 1980s. I started as a young civil engineer. By 1985 at 35, I was the head of PWD and put my young energy and time -- most valuable resources -- into the department. Today, no one remembers who was responsible for constructing Tangmachu bridge  and driving the first motor vehicle to Lhuntse Dzong in 1982. No one cares who contributed most in the construction of road from Tsirang to Dagana Dzong including first bridge over Sunkosh river enabling 1986 National Day celebration in Dagana. No one knows who walked on foot from Wangdue to Damphu to finalize the Wangdue-Tsirang road alignment (initially planned as 2-lane) that forms today vital link of the national road network interconnecting south with west.  No one is interested in finding out who negotiated the PWD take-over of Simtokha-Trashigang and Trongsa-Gelephu highways from Dantak. And, so on. To me none of those impressions/opinions/views/appreciations/condemnations are important. What I value most is my fulfillment that I enjoyed working and made some contribution. I gave my energy and time to the benefit of the people.

I sincerely believed then and am convinced now that construction sector plays a very important role in positioning private sector on strong footing and therefore in building the nation. This is particularly so in a small landlocked country. During 1980s and before, PWD was undertaking most of the construction works in the country and therefore led construction sector by setting professional standards, ethics and discipline. Strong support was provided by senior engineers on deputation from Government of India. I, as head of PWD, wanted to put into proper footsteps the development of road construction with the help of Asian Development Bank. We formulated the Road Works Mechanization Project  under the guidance of late Dasho Lam Penjor, then Deputy Minister of Planning Commission, to enable systematic development of private sector  to take up road works within the country first, and in the region, yes in the region,  longer term. The concept involved  setting up of mechanized road construction units (in three specialized categories: formation cutting - 4 units, basecourse - 2 units and bituminious sealing - 1 unit), corporatizing first and then privatizing those units eventually. This, in my view, would have helped not only road construction but development of construction sector as a whole. The disciplined construction sector has positive influence on the environment in which private sector operates.

Dasho Lam Penjor died in a road accident in 1985. The new road construction equipment under the Roadworks Mechanization Project started to arrive in 1988. In 1989 I was asked to hand-over PWD to Dorji Tenzing, a semi-literate bigot who did not know  "E" of engineering, and was transferred to the then National Urban Development Corporation (NUDC) that had nothing to do with road works. That was the first time in the history of PWD, the department was being headed by non-engineering person whose qualification and competency were nothing compared with what were required of a head of PWD position. Thus the beginning of an era of treating all senior positions as favours, instead of high level professionally responsible positions requiring dedicated hard work. 

   Tenzing sold all road mechanization equipment to private individuals who believed road engineering was nothing more than owning bulldozers, excavators, road rollers, dump trucks. The road works mechanization and modernization concept, and strategy to develop competent private road contractors died with it. The skeptics  may have argued then that as the beginning of a technical attrition. I know where we would have been today if specialized and technically competent road construction units had been created, developed, corporatized and privatized. But I do not know where the sector currently is in terms of technical discipline, ownership and commitment. Do these carry any meaning in today’s Bhutanese professional world? You do not need to go too far for an answer. The writing is on the wall. I tried technical mainstreaming but it did not materialize. I have the satisfaction of trying my best. I did not worry then and do not now. Worry weakens the mind of its power to think and analyze, and takes us on more negative track. I opt for positive route. So I moved on. As simple as that, as far as I am concerned! But the fact is heavy prices are being paid. If you pretend not to see now, the forces will multiply and events will catch-up one day, not very far from now. 

            So, did I do enough to offset the fact that I, a son of poor villager who could not afford a pair shoes for his son, had an opportunity to study in India including in prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur? I do not wish to put myself on the weighing machine. I'd rather see from an angle if I am making any contribution to benefit human kind. I feel good that road financing in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyz Republic are more efficient because of the influence of the ADB-financed projects that I developed introducing road fund concept. It makes me feel happy in learning that Pakistani private contractors are gaining better traction in dealing with their government clients by signing more balanced contracts, and gives me good feeling that the Chinese are going ahead with the showcase workshops, the concept I introduced to mobilize their in-country knowledge products from advanced eastern coastal region to backward western and inner provinces. I believe positive contributions, as long as they benefit human kind, have neither boundary nor expiry date.

Positive contribution emanates from knowledge/wisdom and is the way to fostering knowledge economy. Loyalty is a poor substitute of knowledge/wisdom.. Those who do not believe, pay the price. There is no other way!