Tororo Cement rejects pay rise for limestone miners

Tororo Cement, has rejected a request by miners of limestone in Moroto District in Karamoja Sub-region to increase their pay.
The miners had demanded an increase in the prices for breaking and loading limestone at Kosiroi Limestone Quarrying Site in Tapac Sub-county, which belongs to Tororo Cement Factory.
The site is one of the areas with quality and huge volumes of limestone in Karamoja Sub-region.
Currently, the company pays Shs150,000 for both breaking and loading a small truck, Shs170,000 for medium truck and Shs210,000 for a big truck.
But the miners are now demanding that the compay pays them Shs300,000 for small trucks, Shs400, 000 for medium trucks and Shs500,000 for a big truck to meet the rising cost of living.
However, Mr David Omaido, the officer-in-charge of logistics at Tororo Cement Factory, said the increment being demanded by the miners is abnormal and if implemented, it may push them out of business.
“The demand to increase the prices will negatively impact on our production and may force the company to increase the prices of cement to cover the costs,” he said.
Mr Omaido said the company has injected in a lot of resources to do geological surveys to establish the volume of limestone in the area and that they may be forced to mechanise the entire process.
He said currently, through manual quarrying, the amount of clinker produced per month is only 16,000 tonnes yet the company requires more than 30,000 to 60,000 tonnes per month.
Ms Maria Nalem Naram, one of the miners, said they also want the company to address the issues of protective gears and formalise their operations.
DEVELOPMENT
The chairperson of Tapac Sub-county, Mr Lomer Peter Loboot, applauded the company for constructing for them a school, drilling of boreholes in the area and establishing a mobile clinic.
He said the company officials should make efforts to meet with the artisans to harmonise the situation.