DHI CEO Karma Yonten said that Sangay Gyaltshen was appointed on the basis of his “good work record, potential, educational qualifications and the fact that he was given meritorious promotion as the mining division head in 1996, just five years after he joined the division in 1991 as the juniormost engineer”.

However, a 2008 royal audit report, which came out just after his appointment in NRDCL, heavily criticised the department of geology and mines (DGM) “for lack of proper monitoring of mines and quarries”. Even before his appointment in December 2007, the audit report was sent for comments to DGM under the ministry of economic affairs due to serious management lapses in the mines.

The audit was done from January to December 2006 at the same time when Sangay Gyaltshen was still the head of the mining division. The then Prime Minister Kinzang Dorji had also sent a letter on March 4, asking relevant agencies to take necessary corrective action on the audit report findings.

The audit report had found that nearly all 39 mines and 27 stone quarries in the country were environmentally unfriendly, breaking multiple mining rules and affecting local communities. Lack of transparency was uncovered in the leasing of mines. Some mines were operating without any clearance from the department of forest or respective dzongkhag administrations. Mine waste was being dumped into rivers and streams, leading to raised levels and flooding of lower areas. It was also found that closed mines were not restored and no environmental restoration bonds had been collected from companies, though it is stipulated in the Bhutan mining law.

The report also found that there was continued mining of talc, though figures given by DGM should have indicated the exhaustion of this mineral. It also pointed out the high environmental costs of talc mining.

DGM officials, on condition of anonymity, said that Sangay Gyaltshen’s prime responsibility as the head of mining was to prevent the above. He had to receive all the applications for mines and ensure, through his staff, that all documents and plans were in order before being sent for final approval. “The whole mining sector was under him and he oversaw all the processing. He was the administrator of mines, oversaw preparation of the budget and monitoring of mines though inspectors.”

DHI CEO Karma Yonten, however, said that there were no allegations when he joined NRDCL and that DHI could not react to a mine audit report, which was a draft at that stage.

Officials at Sangay Gyaltshen’s former office DGM and NRDCL said that he was “dynamic”, “hardworking”, “got things moving” and also “had good ideas”.

“He streamlined the system in DGM, helped in the mine act, was the DGM representative in the border coordination meetings, had a master’s in geological engineering and we got good reports on him from DGM,” said DHI CEO Karma Yonten. “NRDCL was expanding from forest timber into sand and stones and we saw him fit for NRDCL.”

An NRDCL official also said that Sangay Gyaltshen was not too particular about rules like, for example, purchasing items without processing the budget first and believed that the “system should follow the decisions”.

DHI CEO Karma Yonten defended Sangay Gyaltshen’s appointment saying that it was made as per past practice, where a bright civil servant was sent for deputation to the then forestry development corporation.

Observers however say that, in the past, NRDCL as forestry development corporation was under the finance ministry but, under DHI, NRDCL is a complete corporate entity with more autonomy. Earlier, senior directors of grade three and above were appointed in government corporations, but Sangay Gyaltshen was in grade four when he was appointed by DHI. Also one of the main incentives for government deputation then was the increase in salary, which was one grade higher. Sangay Gyaltshen, on the other hand, received a three-year contract and a salary hike from about Nu 19,000 to Nu 60,000 per month.