Gov't constructs storage facilities worth Shs11 billion in Tororo
The State Minister of Finance (Investment and Privatisation), Ms Evelyn Anite, is taken around the newly-constructed government warehouses in Tororo town by Mr Wilbert Mugume (centre), the Managing Director of Uganda Property Holdings Limited. PHOTO/DAVID AWORI
What you need to know:
- Uganda Property Holdings Limited is a government-owned company which was created as a result of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), whose policy saw several state-owned entities sold to private developers.
The government has constructed 12 warehouses in Tororo District at a cost of Shs11.3 billion to fill the gaps of storage in the country.
The units were constructed by the Uganda Property Holdings Limited (UPHL), with the aim of recouping at least Shs1.5 billion annually in profit through rent, which adds to the funds raised from other government properties in Mombasa (Kenya), the United Kingdom and other countries.
UPHL is a government-owned company which was created as a result of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), whose policy saw several state-owned entities sold to private developers.
The UPHL Managing Director, Mr Wilbert Mugume, said the new facilities aim to fill gaps and challenges in areas of storage within the country.
“As a country, we have challenges on issues of storage, and that is why we have constructed these warehouses,” Mr Mugume said relating it to a National Development Plan III report which notes the challenges of storage.
Mr Mugume added that whereas the warehouses will be hired out to the World Food Programme, they intend to be moved to various regions in the country to improve on the quality of agricultural products sent to the local and export market.
“We have serious issues of post-harvest handling of cereals, partly due to poor storage which has affected the marketability of our products, both locally and internationally,” he said, adding that the government has allocated to them land in all industrial parks to construct more warehouses for hire by investors.
According to Mr Mugume, when the privatisation policy was undertaken, a challenge came with the property which had not been sold off. He then managed the unsold property owned by the government, and UPHL was created to run them.
Mr Mugume says for long, they have been investing abroad, but realised the need to return to Uganda and start investing in warehouses which they have undertaken in Tororo District.
The State Minister of Finance (Investment and Privatisation), Ms Evelyn Anite, said the investment by UPHL was “a demonstration that the government can successfully carry out business and make profits”.
She added: “I think if we can have such facilities in every region of the country, so that they are made available to our farmers, we can solve storage challenges which our people are grappling with.”
