Gerald Tenywa
31 December 2008
Kampala — THE National Forestry Authority (NFA) is at the centre of growing controversy following the allocation of an acre of land at Nakawa forest reserve to a private investor without competitive bidding.
According to a 49-year agreement, VIRCO, a private company, is to establish a wood treatment plant.
The forest, which houses NFA headquarters, is one of the two remaining urban forest reserves.
It is located opposite the former Coffee Marketing Board, also commonly known as AGOA factory on Old Portbell Road.
According to the chairperson of the board of trustees and executive director of NFA, Baguma Isoke, the deal did not breach the disposal of public assets procedures.
"NFA still owns the land and the investor is only using it," he said, adding that the move would help the authority generate income.
"We have people going to higher offices including the State House complaining about this deal," he said.
"Some of them were saying the money the investor paid was too little. Their queries are not sound," he added.
Baguma said the authority would earn about sh900m from the deal and also retain land, valued at sh1b.
He also said the investor would add value to timber and establish a training school in carpentry, which would minimise waste in the wood industry.
However, other sources at the authority said the organisation was already making sh10m per month by hosting weddings in its compound, adding that the authority would generate more money if the compound was expanded.
They also complained that the wood processing plant was not compatible with the city development plans.
In the agreement obtained by The New Vision, the investor will pay sh400m in two installments and an annual license fee of sh10m.
Asked how the investor was identified without open bidding, Baguma said: "They had a good idea. When they approached us we discovered that they had an innovation."
He said the environment minister, Maria Mutagamba and the investment minister, Semakula Kiwanuka endorsed the deal.
Out of concern over the escalating destruction of forests, President Yoweri Museveni stopped leasing forest reserve land to individuals to plant trees.
In his July 29 communication, Museveni said: "I direct the NFA to halt the selling or leasing of forests to individuals. This takes immediate effect."
The deal between the authority and VIRCO was signed on August 22, three weeks after Museveni's order.
By press time, the investors had not demolished the authority's property standing on the land. But investors were reportedly seen before Christmas inspecting the site.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
