Bukalasa College authorities block government project

LUWEERO. Authorities at Bukalasa Agricultural College have blocked yet another government project claiming that they were not consulted.
On September 8, managers of the college blocked Chinese contractors from accessing land which the institution has been using for the last 20 years as an agricultural farm. The college had earlier deployed about 200 students armed with farm tools backed by two farm tractors to cultivate the land where a team of Chinese Contractors in company of the Bukalasa Land office officials had cleared for construction of a regional lands office for the Ministry of Lands under a World Bank Project.

“We are surprised that contractors are sent to embark on a big project on land which is under our custody without any official communication. This land is part of our farmland which we have been using for more than 20 years now. We decided to clear the land for cultivation as the ministry officials sort themselves out because the two are government institutions. We are only surprised that land was reportedly allocated without the consent of both Bukalasa College and the Ministry of Agriculture yet it is known that we are using it,” the College Principal, Mr Gelvan Kisolo Lule , explained during an interview at the weekend.

Last Friday, police deployed at the disputed land as the Chinese ferried in their construction materials. Police later asked the Chinese contractors to withdraw their property and allow students continue with the cultivation as the concerned government departments sort out the matter.

The land under contention is part of the 299 acres owned by Bukalasa Agricultural College on Block 146, Plot 68 Bulemezi.
Mr Ausie Magala ,the Luweero District Natural Resources Officer told this reporter that the Lands Ministry has contracted a Chinese Company to build a Regional Lands Office at Bukalasa, but could not divulge details of details.

In 2012, the UPDF and Bukalasa Agricultural College were involved in a land dispute over ownership of Block 146, Plot 367 land located opposite Bukalasa Agricultural College in Luweero District. The UPDF claimed then that the Uganda Land Commission had allocated them this particular land for construction of a National Referral Army Hospital but had never taken possession of the land in an allocation undertaken in 2009. Bukalasa Agricultural College on the other hand claimed that they still wanted to utilize the land as a demonstration farm. The land formerly belonged to Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute and acted as an experiment Centre. It was abandoned in the late 1970s and taken over by Bukalasa Agricultural College.

Authorities at Bukalasa led by the College Governing Council claim that the college which has since expanded to a population of 1,500 students needs more land for the students demonstration gardens. Recently, the World Bank promoted Bukalasa Agricultural College to an Agriculture Centre of Excellence. World Bank has approved several projects to run at the Centre under a Shs4.5bn grant to run for 3 years beginning 2017, according to Mr Kisolo.

Recently, State Minister for Agriculture Christopher Kibazanga revealed that Government targets the expansion of Bukalasa Agricultural College to serve Ugandans better.
“We shall not allow encroachment on land at Bukalasa Agricultural College, ” Mr Kibazanga told the college Governing Council and parents at the 2017 graduation ceremony.

Bukalasa Agriculture College started its training way back in 1920 as a research centre for Bukalasa Pedigree Alba cotton, but was upgraded to an Agriculture Training Institute in 1956 offering national diplomas in animal husbandry and management, crop husbandry and management among other courses.

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