Residents force leaders to abandon Shs70m project

Residents of Walukuba/Masese Division in Jinja Municipal Council have forced authorities to halt the construction of a greenhouse project worth Shs70m.
The project was supposed to be erected on land that belongs to Walukuba Health Centre IV.

The greenhouse was a district project under the production department meant to conduct research on growing vegetables, tomatoes, onions and flowers among other plants, the Walukuba/Masese Division Town Clerk, Mr Abubaker Kirunda, said.
However, during a meeting with the municipal town clerk, Mr Ambrose Ocen, on Tuesday, residents said they do not want the project on the health centre land, arguing that they were not consulted.

In response, Mr Ocen said he was halting the construction of the greenhouse.
“We brought the proposal and your leaders, through council, accepted and budgeted for it; if you don’t want the Greenhouse project, we shall be obliged to return the money to government or shift the project to a different area,” he said.

Land grabbing claims
The residents also told the town clerk that there are people who want to grab part of the health centre land that was left out in the new land title secured for the facility and called for another survey.
According to them, a survey conducted between 2015 and 2017 show that an acre of land was left out of the current title deed.

Mr Asuman Bajampola, one of the residents, instead demanded that authorities secure funds for fencing the health centre IV land as it is vulnerable to land grabbers.
Some of the residents earlier accused the Municipal Physical Planner, Mr Charles Nyapendo, of leaving out an acre of the health centre land.
However, Mr Nyapendo said a survey conducted in 2017, the year in which he assumed office, managed to secure a land title of 2.7 acres belonging to the health centre, among other property.

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