The Leader of Opposition, Joel Besekezi Ssenyonyi has expressed concern over the continued government investment in Atiak Sugar Factory based in Amuru district despite it being non-operational.
In a statement to parliament, Ssenyonyi said the government has so far invested 553.7 billion Shillings in Atiak Sugar Factory but there is nothing so far to show of it. “The factory is currently non-operational, not producing any sugar, and this raises concerns; given the government’s intervention over the years.
Management intimated that the reason for non-production is because sugarcane is not readily available…Despite the heavy financial investment…in the joint venture, what is on the ground is not commensurate with this investment. This raises questions about whether this is not another white elephant,” Ssenyonyi said.
Ssenyonyi’s statement follows his and the shadow cabinet’s visit to the factory on October 7. Ssenyonyi also observed that the management of the factory had abandoned the earlier model of planting 60,000 acres of sugar cane from Atiak across to Lamwo districts through farmer cooperatives and instead resorted to planting 25,000 acres of sugarcane in Atiak on the land owned by the factory.
What was also of concern to the opposition delegation was the fact that despite the factory being non-operational for a couple of years now, it nonetheless spends 200 litres of diesel a day to ostensibly run turbines to prevent the machines from rusting and malfunctioning. “This regular expenditure is disturbing given that there is no production going on,” Ssenyonyi said.
He also noted that although Uganda Development Corporation-UDC is supposed to be the overseer of the project on behalf of the government, it has limited or no presence at all in the operations of the factory. “UDC should improve oversight and management of the factory’s operations by ensuring efficient management and transparency in the use of public funds,” Ssenyonyi observed.
The Nakawa West MP also called for the government to fast-track the conversion of its preferential shares into ordinary shares to increase its negotiating power, strong decision making and voting powers in the company. “While the company is desirous to receive more money from the government, we think it is prudent for the already invested Shs 553.71bn to be accounted for first. There must be value for all this money before we think of investing more,” Ssenyonyi said.
Atiak Sugar Factory was initiated by a private company called Horyal Investments Holding Company Limited incorporated in 2013 as a private limited liability company. It has since signed a memorandum of understanding with the government that has resulted in the extension of billions of taxpayers’ money to it.
Members of parliament particularly from the opposition have expressed disquiet about government’s continued investment in Atiak Sugar factory.
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