Gold miners fail to start work

Engineers install gold mining machinery of Jan Mangle in Moroto District last year. The machines are yet to start work. PHOTO BY STEVEN ARIONG

What you need to know:

Jan Mangle (U) Limited after the exploration licence from the office of the geological survey and mines last year installed 13 gold mining machines in Nakabat Village in Rupa Sub-county.

Indian investors, who recently installed a multibillion gold mining project in Moroto District, have not yet started mining due to lack of a mining lease.

Jan Mangle (U) Limited after the exploration licence from the office of the geological survey and mines last year installed 13 gold mining machines in Nakabat Village in Rupa Sub-county.
The company’s Managing Director, Mr Bay Manish, told the Daily Monitor early this week that the delay could cost them millions of shillings as some of their machines had started rusting.

“We have since last year contacted the office of the commissioner in-charge of geology and mining but we don’t know when we shall get the mining lease so that we start work,” he said.

Clearance
Mr Manish added that they had been cleared by the National Environment Management Authority and were considering relocating to other countries if the lease delayed farther.

The assistant commissioner of geological survey and mines department, Mr Zackary Baguma, when contacted urged the investors to calm down, saying the issue would soon be settled.

“The investors have done everything. Everything is clear. It is only the mining lease remaining, which we are working on,” he said.

The MP for Matheniko County, Mr John Baptist Lok, said he was not aware of the plight of the investors, but promised to follow up the matter.
Last year when delivering the State of the nation address, President Museveni said investors were the biggest contributors to the country’s economy.