Chinese investors who bought off the Lira Spinning Mill in 2004 are finding it difficult to revive the glory of the factory.
Members of the Tourism and Trade committee of parliament yesterday found out that the spinning mill is slowly fading into oblivion.
Led by Rose Munyira Wabwire, the Busia district Woman MP, the team on a site working visit to north and eastern Uganda, put the management to task to explain why there is no activity.
Unable to speak English, the Chinese manager, Lii Shi, left the explanation to Paul Okoth, the factory administrator.
Okoth told the MPs that the factory has been rendered redundant because of the huge power bills.
The electricity regulation company cut off power to the premises due to accumulated bills.
Okoth said that the factory was left with only nine workers while a hundred others were laid off.
Previously considered the second biggest spinning facility in Africa, employing over 3,000 workers, Lira spinning mill was grounded in the 1980s following political instability.
But in 2004, Government under its Privatization scheme sold off the facility to Jinda International Textile Corporation (JITCO), a Chinese investment company. The new investor has however failed to turn round the fortunes of the factory.
MPs also learnt that more than 100,000 metric tons of new and old Russian made parts were dismantled and are being sold as scrap.
The new Investors have also turned part of the premise into stores for Mukwano Industries and the World Food Program
