Kampala — THE New Forest Company is to invest $30m (sh51.3b) in plantations, the chief executive officer, Julian Ozanne, has said. "We are investing $30m in tree planting in Mubende, Bugiri and Kiboga. Our target is to plant 65,000 acres of land," Ozanne said.

He said they had so far planted 7,250 acres of land in the three districts. "This year, we are spending $11m (sh18.8b) on the exercise. By the end, we shall have planted 15,000 acres in the three districts," Ozanne said during a tour of the plantation in Mubende by officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Uganda Investment Authority.

"We expect to invest between $40m and $50m over 10 years. We are also working with British company, Aldwych, which has already got a licence from the energy ministry to put in place a 50MW power plant from wood biomass," he said.

"If we include the power project, the investment will be between $70m and $80m. But we still need to have a power purchase agreement from the Government and the plant will be connected to the national grid."

Ozanne urged the Government to support the project in order to diversify energy sources and stop relying on hydro power only.

"Wood biomass is renewable energy and the project will create jobs."

"Planting is the first step we are doing to create volume. In the next phase, we plan to put up a processing plant that will include a modern saw mill and a pole--treatment factory."

The IMF's senior resident representative, Abebe Aemro Selassie, said the company had mobilised private equity for a sustainable forestry project.

"This is a positive development that has created jobs and contributed to construction a secondary school," Selassie said.