Cleaning up our act
The prime minister’s plans to wean Bhutan away from a consumerist ethos
Meet The Press 27 May, 2010 – Deskbound jobs, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, smoking, excess use of alcohol and psychosocial stress are among major lifestyle issues that are gradually creeping into the Bhutanese society.
Just last year, referring 10 patients suffering from non-communicable diseases to India cost the government Nu 10M.
Before the issue gets out of hand, the government is studying various means of weaning Bhutan away from, what Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley described as, “the consumerist ethos” that its people were growing into.
Lyonchhoen said that they even differentiated what constituted healthy consumer items and commodities that would accelerate cases of non-communicable diseases in the country.
“We’ve identified a list of food items we have categorised as junk,” Lyonchhoen said. “We want to save our children from food items that will impair their health, including carbonated drinking water.”
With regard to cost, he said it was not only an issue for Bhutan, but for the entire human society, and that it would continue to pose a major challenge, especially for those countries plagued with the problem of ageing societies.
It includes not just developed and industralised countries, but also developing countries.
In fact, he said, the means were reflected in all government policies, including the recently released economic development policy.
“Through this policy, we’re trying to ensure that development, industrialisation and commercial activities subscribe to GNH,” he said. “Thus, preventing and discouraging those that will be culturally and environmentally harmful.”
The government’s plan to turn Thimphu into a bicycle city was geared towards, besides saving the environment, trammeling lifestyle diseases as well.
With regard to bicycles donated to the prime minister by the Japanese government, Lyonchhoen said that, instead of distributing them as they had intended, the government was going to give them to students.
He said Sherubtse students, who intend to conduct a bicycle tour of the country, would be among the first recipients of the bicycles.
“They’ve asked for 25 of them and we’ll give them 25 of the very best,” he said. “They’ll develop a bicycling habit.”
Emphasising just how real the government’s plans are on turning the country, besides Thimphu, Lyonchhoen said he had asked some Japanese corporate leaders to consider providing some bicycles to the country.
“I’ve also asked Mr Pachauri, who has considerable influence in the green world, to see the possibilities of getting some donors to support us to this effect,” he said. “We’re very intent on making Thimphu a bicycle city.”
Talking about the challenges in realising this idea, Lyonchhoen said that, although some bicycle stands had already been erected in anticipation of bicycles, building bicycle paths and lanes along the already narrow roads was going to be difficult.
“But we intend to do this anyway,” he said.
Source: kuenselonline