A group of youths from Amuru district are demanding that government should urgently establish a sugar factory in the district, to enable them acquire employment and other opportunities.
The thirty youths have just returned from a tour of the Madhvani-owned Kakira sugar factory in Jinja.
They say that they are convinced that the investment would increase the prospects in the district. They explained that they anticipate developments such as extension of electricity, roads, school, hospitals and other infrastructural development to accrue due to the presence of a factory in the rural district.
Jane Naku, the Amuru district Female youth representative, said there were thousands of unemployed young people in the district traveling hundreds of kilometers to provide manual labour on tea and sugar plantations.
Ociti Alfred, another youth leader in the district said he was impressed by the level of development and revenue generation opportunities during the tour at Kakira factory. He said he would welcome the idea to set up a sugar factory in Amuru so that their area could also attract more investors and development.
Peter Payira, another youth said he was bitter that the idea to set up the factory in the district has dragged for the last four years with no success. He asked government to urgently make arrangements to enable Madhvani establish the factory.
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Anthony Omach, the Amuru LC5 chairman has said he is excited that the youths were finally making the demands themselves. He however warned that government risks frustrating the opportunity if it continues to evict people from the nearby Apaa villages that are claimed to be part of the Wildlife reserve.
Other groups to have visited the Kakira sugar factory from Acholi sub region include MPs and cultural leaders. The visits are financed by Madhvani group of company.
The plan by Madhvani to secure thousands of hectares for sugar cane plantation and factory hit a legal brick wall over the last four years after some residents of Amuru district including Members of Parliament sought a court injunction to block any developments on the land in the district.
They complained that the district land board had illegally allocated land to the investor. The legal battle however came to a halt last month when the High court in Gulu lifted the injunction saying it was hindering development.
Mayur Madhvani, the Joint Managing Director of the company has said they are eager to begin the work to establish the factory as soon as possible. He said the project would generate 12,000 employment opportunities with a host of infrastructural development and billions of shillings in taxes.
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In 2008, Madhvani group of company applied for 20,000 hectares of land in Amuru district for sugar production but the district land board approved only 10,000 hectares saying the remainder would be given after evaluating the progress of the development. The process was however halted by a court injunction which has however now been lifted.
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