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Lamwo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Agriculture has resorted to deploying Local Defense Unit Personnel -LDU to plant seed canes at Ayuu Alali sugarcane plantation, Palabek kal sub county in Lamwo district.
This comes as Horyal Investment Holding Company Ltd contracted by the government to implement the sugarcane project has failed to acquire targeted 900 laborers to work on 6,500 hectares of land ready for sugarcane growing.
The company has been struggling to recruit local laborers from Lamwo district ever since plans to recruit experienced workers from Kamuli district were halted over the COVID-19 pandemic last month.
Mohamoud Abdi Mohammed, Executive director Horyal Investment Holding Company Limited last week during a meeting with government officials revealed that about 600 tons of cane seeds had dried up due to manpower shortage.
To that effect, hundreds of LDUs within Lamwo and Kitgum district were over the weekend withdrawn from their duties in enforcing COVID-19 guidelines and transported to work at the sugarcane plantation.
Brig. Michael Kabango, the Fifth Infantry Division Commander says the Ministry of Agriculture through government’s relevant channels called for support from the army to provide manpower to save the project from suffering losses.
He notes that the LDU personnel all underwent screening for COVID-19 adding that they will not be allowed to mix up with the community members for one month while working in the sugarcane plantation.
The Palabek Kal sub-county LCIII chairperson Geoffrey Nyeko says manpower challenges at the sugarcane plantations have been due to a recent high rate of turnover of laborers.
He notes that most of those recruited abandoned planting citing difficult working conditions, poor pay among others leaving the Ayuu Alali sugarcane project management in shortage of workers.
Efforts to get comments from Francis Ojwiya, the chairperson Ayuu Alali Sugarcane Cooperatives Society were futile as he didn’t answer repeated phone calls to his mobile number.
Last week, the government gave a green light for the investor to recruit 400 casual laborers from Kamuli district and transport them to Lamwo to ensure the project doesn’t stagnate.
National Agricultural Advisory Services-NAADS signed a memorandum of understanding-MOU with the Company last year to open and plough 15,000 hectares of land belonging to Ayuu-Alaali clan members.
The clan members under the Ayuu Alali Sugarcane Cooperatives Society comprises of some 3,000 beneficiaries who have distributed five hectares to each member for sugarcane plantation.
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