Oil cash to be used on infrastructure - government
Trucks stuck on the Nakapiripirit-Mbale road after a heavy downpour recently. The government says oil money will be used on infrastructure like roads. PHOTO BY Steven Ariong
KAMPALA- The government has announced that infrastructural development tops its priorities once oil revenues start trickling in from production slated for 2017.
Speaking yesterday at an oil transparency and accountability conference, the Finance minister, Ms Maria Kiwanuka, said all oil returns would be channelled to the construction and improvement of infrastructure like roads, railway, dams, power plants and revamping of the irrigation schemes all over the country.
“We are looking at infrastructural development first because it’s visible, manageable and accountable,” Ms Kiwanuka said. “It also largely engages the private sector and shall create more jobs for our young population.”
Structural information is the large scale transfer of resources from some sectors to others in a system, necessitated by fundamental policies.
Ms Kiwanuka assured development partners, civil society organisations and Members of Parliament that the government was in full knowledge of the likely mismanagement of proceeds from oil, which has excited the entire country, but mechanisms like the 2012 Public Finance Bill and other oil legislations (enacted) are all preventive measures.
A specific production date for 1.2 billion (recoverable) oil barrels is still elusive but the government has tagged 2017 to it, after construction of an oil refinery in Hoima District and erecting of an oil pipeline.
Trinidad and Tobago envoy Patrick Edwards urged the government to wisely prioritise its areas of investments if oil revenues, valued at an annual $2 billion (about Shs5.1 trillion), are to make impact on the economy.
“We are a small country just like Uganda, but we got such development right from the start,” Mr Edwards implored, urging the government to equally prioritise other sectors like education, health and agriculture for an integrated economic development.
MPs on the Parliamentary Forum on Oil and Gas (PFOG), however, challenged the government’s commitment towards equal distribution of the oil wealth and its sectorial priority.
Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo, also PFOG chairman, said: “With the continued arm-twisting of Parliament by the Executive on issues of transparency, grave challenges for the country lie ahead.”
