Sugar millers demand review of Bill
Workers pack sugar for sale at Kakira Sugar Limited production room in Jinja last year. PHOTO BY DENIS EDEMA
The millers want government to permit zoning saying it fosters development.
Jinja- Sugar millers in Busoga Sub-region have called for a review of the new Sugar Bill that was endorsed last month.
The Sugar Bill 2016, among others, seeks to regulate the sugar industry and provide operating zones for mills.
Some of the amendments the sugar millers want encompassed in the Bill include deleting Clause 22, which bars the sugar board from licensing more than one miller within a radius of 25 kilometres.
According to Members of Parliament, zoning will create monopoly in the area yet Uganda is a liberalised economy.
The proprietor of Kaliro Sugar Works, Mr Abid Alam, said they reject the Bill in its present form and that it should be returned to the House for review.
Mr Alam said he supports zoning because it allows the development of the millers and farmers within a specific zone.
“It is not advisable to steal other farmers’ cane; the new millers should develop their own out-growers. We want Parliament to review this Bill and reinstate Clause 22 which allows zoning,’’ he said.
The Deputy General Manager for Kakira Sugar Limited, Mr Kenneth Barungi, said the Bill does not in any way address the future survival of the sugar industry.
“The key issue of zoning millers must be reconsidered because too much is at stake for this country. MPs need to be aware of what has transpired in neighbouring countries where zoning was halted and the sugar industry has collapsed,” he said.
“Now those countries have to import vast amounts of sugar from overseas, reducing employment and depleting foreign exchange reserves,” he added. The chairperson of Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association (USMA), Mr Jim Kabeho, said the Bill was passed without thorough review.
According to Mr Kabeho, the concentration of many factories in one region has reduced the annual sugar tonnage, as statistics from USMA show that the country’s sugar production reduced to 392,115 tonnes in 2016 from 438,000 tonnes in 2014.
The Busoga Sugarcane Outgrowers’ Association spokesperson, Mr Godfrey Naitema, said they support withdraw of the zoning policy because it creates monopoly among millers.
“If there are so many factories in a place, there is competition for sugarcane and farmers benefit because the prices go up,’’ Mr Naitema said.
Sugar factories
Currently, Busoga Sub-region has five sugar factories; Kakira Sugar, Mayuge Sugar Factory, Kamuli Sugar Limited, Kaliro Allied & Sugar Limited and GM Sugar in Njeru.
Prior to the passing of the Bill, government, through the State minister for Karamoja Affairs, Mr Moses Kizige, announced plans to relocate GM Sugar (Uganda) Limited and Mayuge Sugar Industries Limited to other areas in a bid to minimise competition for sugarcane.
