As the national industrial drive so much hyped by President Museveni and the associated incentives for support to local investors, Lugazi Industrial Park complex with a multitude of production lines, has entered the construction phase.
Proprietors of the park who are operating hand-in-hand with the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) and Uganda Development Bank (UDB), have finalised signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Lugazi Municipal Council who have in turn blessed their venture.
Right from the onset, Lugazi Industrial Park, according to the words of the proprietors, are all set to follow in the direction of President Museveni who advocates for the ‘Buy Ugandan Build Uganda’ (BUBU) spirit, to help transform Uganda’s economy into an industrial one and at the same time creating employment opportunities for locals.
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According to PSFU deputy director, Francis Kisirinya, the Lugazi park is going to lift a big burden off the shoulders of investors whom he said have in the past been confronted with the bother of accessing serviced land with facilities including accessible roads, electricity, water, security and others.
Kisirinya was particularly gratified that the park will have a component of opportunities for managers of micro, small and medium enterprises which he said is bound to create an atmosphere of fair competition.
“This means that interested SME handlers will come, produce, store and sell at will without using a lot of money as has been the case in the past,” he said.
He was particularly appreciative to the government for what he called people friendly incentives, which he said are more attractive for local investors than for foreigners, and expressed optimism that because of these incentives, the park is bound to see many investors flock to it to do business.
The Manager for Lugazi Industrial Park, Julius Kato Lutaaya disclosed that of the expected initial over ten investors who have expressed interest to work in the park, already two including Softcare and Joint Medical Stores have begun work at the park sitting on the 100-acre piece of land.
Lutaaya said some of the driving objectives of the complex include bringing jobs to locals, fostering development and contributing to transformation of Uganda into an industrial economy.
He added that in this light, youths are already in employment and that by the beginning of August, business will be in full swing.
Lugazi Industrial Park Project Coordinator, Jeremiah Kasirivu thanked the UDB and the PSFU whom he said are partners in helping to transform Lugazi from solely an agricultural-based economy to an industrial one.
“Over eighty per cent of the available land has been under sugar cane cover and this is what we are to transform into industries which will provide employment and also market for the available raw materials within the nearby communities,” he noted.
Welcoming the investment, Lugazi Municipality Mayor, John Bosco Asea Ozuma prayed that upcoming industries pay attention to observance of occupational health and safety provisions to avoid the semblance of numerous human accidents at work places in the past.
Asea observed that such accidents are usually many especially during construction phases of the industries, and appealed to authorities at the new industrial park to endeavour to limit this state of affairs.
Expounding on this, the mayor said, “our people are the class that lives on the hand-to-mouth system, meaning that exposing them to conditions that may keep them off work translates into exposing their dependents to starvation and other human life hardships”.
The mayor also noted that the municipality welcomed the industrial park idea with enthusiasm because he added, they saw in it increased revenue, job opportunities and all round development.
“With increased employment, livelihoods go up, crime rate comes down as scrap collectors who vandalize things have something else meaningful to do,” he noted.