The Dzongkhag Entertainment and Licensing Committee (DELC) members met with the entertainment owners of Paro Dzongkhag onJune 18th, 2019 at the Dzongkhag Conference hall. The meeting was a first of its kind to be held. The meeting was organized primarily to create awareness and sensitize the entertainment owners on the Rules and Regulations, various requirements while operating different entertainments and the corresponding penalties should there be violation of the Rules and Regulations.
Discotheque, drayang, karaoke, snooker and live music’s are classified as places of entertainment. In Paro Dzongkhag there are around 5 discotheques, around 12 drayangs, around 11 karaoke places and around 13 snooker places. Entertainment places such as clubs, drayangs and karaokes should be located primarily in town area and maintained as per the Checklist for Technical Standard of the Rules on Places of Entertainment, 2019.
The DELC comprises of 6 members (Dasho Dzongdag, Environment Officer, Agriculture Officer, Legal Officer, Land Record Officer and ICT Officer) from the Dzongkhag Administration and 3 members from relevant stakeholders (RBP, Town, and Municipality). Dasho Dzongdag is the Chairman of the DELC. The DELC members during one of their monitoring period observed that most entertainments places had not adhered to certain requirements as per the Checklist.
The DELC members after recording the observations had informed the entertainment owners to maintain their respective places as per the Checklist. The subsequent observations were presented to the DELC Chairman during the meeting by the DELC members. Following that, a second round of monitoring was carried out to ensure the entertainment owners had adhered to the DELC member’s earlier observations and suggestions. It was observed that only a handful of them had actually followed.
The consequent observations were noted down and the rest of the owners were again reminded to adhere strictly to the Rules on Places of Entertainment, 2019. A second round of meeting was held at the Dzongkhag Conference hall where the observations were presented to Dasho Dzongdag. Dasho and the DELC members therefore felt the need to issue a Letter of Undertaking along with a Notice of Warning to all entertainment owners and to invite them for a meeting on 18th June, 2019, so that they are yet again sensitized and made aware of all relevant information, and also to discuss a way forward. During the 3rd and 4th round of monitoring on 12th and 14th June respectively, the DELC members had issued a Notice of Warning to the owners and obtained a Letter of Undertaking from them alongside reminding them of the upcoming meeting.
During the meeting on 18th June, around 30 entertainment owners turned up for the meeting. Dasho Dzongdag opened the floor by stating the purpose of conducting such a meeting and reminded the owners of the importance of such meeting. Than after, the DELC Member Secretary presented the overview of Rules on Places of Entertainment, 2019 inclusive of the roles of both DELC members and entertainment owners, the renewal processes, the Checklist for Technical Standard of various entertainments, the penalties of violations and the observations made during the monitoring period.
The OC, RBP presented issues that the police personnel’s face related to entertainment places. He added that all owners should be extra careful and follow the rules and regulations in place. The owners should ensure that youths below 18 years are not allowed to enter clubs, or sale alcohol to them. If the owners are caught violating the laws by the police, the owners would be held responsible and dealt as per the law he said.
The Municipal Engineer stressed the need for Occupancy Certificate He added all building owners must produce a copy of the Certificate as and when asked by competent authorities. This he said is to ensure the quality of structures so that they are disaster resilient.
Followed by that the Environment Officer sensitized the owners on the plastic ban in place by the government. As per his observation some entertainment owners’ sale doma wrapped in plastic and so henceforth if found using plastic wrappers they would be liable to pay a fine as per the plastic ban rule he added.
The entertainment owners thanked the committee for organizing such a meeting and agreed to follow the Rules and Regulations in place. They also asked for some time to carry out the necessary developments as per the Checklist. Further, they acquiesced that if found violating the Rules henceforth, they should be held responsible and dealt according to the law.
In the closing remarks, Dasho Dzondag reiterated the importance of the meeting and urged all the entertainment owners to follow the Rules. Dasho added that those who were absent for the meeting would be dealt accordingly. Hereafter, if the owners don’t strictly adhere to the Rules and Regulations in place, the DELC would impose necessary fines and penalties ultimately leading to the cancellation of license he said.