BHUTAN: Likely to be delayed yet again

Besides portions of road to the project site, water pipes, power lines and equipment were also washed away

«The Dungsam Cement Project site

Dungsam Cement: This will probably be the fourth time this year and the fifth including its initial deadline of December 2011, that Dungsam cement project completion is being deferred.

Dungsam cement officials said the project was going to be further delayed this year because of continuous heavy rainfall playing spoilsport to ongoing works.

Project works were shut for almost a month.

Going by its schedule, production of clinkers was to begin in July and cement production in October.

Dungsam cement’s chief executive officer Dorji Norbu said assessment of damages to the project was ongoing and was expected to be completed by July 15.

The new deadlines for both clinker and cement production, he said would be submitted to Druk Holdings and Investment after findings of the assessment.

Dorji Norbu said they witnessed a record rainfall of 5,000mm in June-end that not only washed away portions of Nganglam-Gyalpoizhing highway, making parts of project site inaccessible, but also water pipes, power lines and equipment for the project worth about Nu 100,000.

The same time last year, rainfall was recorded at 3,500mm.

“Although works have been restored, we are battling the floods everyday and face numerous problems,” Dorji Norbu said. “The monsoon rainfall continues until mid-September.”

Project officials added that about 350 to 400-metre long water pipelines were washed away, which was used to spray on the plant not only to keep it cool but also to ensure efficient filtration and prolong its life.

“We can adjust drinking water but for cooling the plant we need to reconstruct the pipelines,” a project official said. The project has only 950 workers of the required more than 2,000 workers for its civil works.

The cost of building Dungsam cement, the country’s biggest cement plant at Chengkari in Nganglam under Pemagatshel had earlier gone up by around Nu 2B making it a Nu 9B project.

DHI had requested the government of India – who provided Nu 3B grant in September 2009 to start the project – for additional funds.

The project had borrowed Rs 2B from Indian banks at 13.5 percent interest rate and Nu 2B from a consortium of local financial institutions to build the plant that will be thrice the size of Penden cement.

The project has the capacity to produce 4,130 metric tonnes of cement and 3,000 tonnes of clinkers a day.

Project officials said all pending bills were cleared through funds from DHI, who as an interim measure had injected, so far, Nu 850M from its companies’ reserves and resources.

DHI officials said while discussions with GOI on the additional Nu 2B was still on, no project under it would be delayed because of fund shortages.

“We expect the project to complete on time,” a DHI official said.