Changjiji malaise

Changjiji housing colony in Thimphu has been a blot on the modern Bhutanese society. It is the picture of a failed urban community. Therefore, it has received the most frequent media coverage among thousands of communities in the country. It is in the capital and its failures are glaring.

The Changjiji housing colony was built for the people of low income. And as intended, the apartments come cheap. But many of the apartments have been hijacked by people of higher income. One does not need an investigation to reveal that. Expensive cars parked at the parking spaces says it all. Given that car ownership in Bhutan is generally income-based, the message is unmistakable.

Moreover, there have been reports of some individuals subletting the apartments. As the prime minister told the media last week, the government knows all that and more. How some of the apartments have fallen into the wrong hands is a long story. But why this blatantly unacceptable practice has been allowed to go on is a fairly short story. Despite numerous media reports, little has been done to fix the problem.

Changjiji’s story is about a single community. But it is the subtext of a larger but less obvious story – that of the well-to-do gnawing away at the humble share of the less fortunate. And it is one of the sad stories within the grand happy story of equity and justice. It is high time we put an end to this story.

As the first housing colony of a GNH-inspired government, we had the opportunity to make Changjiji a model community, but failed. Changjiji is nothing more than a concrete jungle, bare, grey and utilitarian. It has no characteristics of a Bhutanese community whatsoever. So, it is not surprising that Changjiji residents usually do not know their neighbours and the colony is rife with crime and youth violence.

While the problem of high income people occupying the apartments meant for low income people is more obvious and demands immediate solution, Changjiji’s problem as a community is less conspicuous but equally unsettling.

It is not too late to clear the mess at the housing colony. The problems have been highlighted over and again. There has been apparent lack of will to act. The government says the problems haven’t been ignored. But that is not enough. It needs to act.