Stakeholders\nin the Oil and Gas sector want Parliament to engage the Government on\nchallenges facing them regarding financing and licensing which they say\nfrustrates local investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elly\nKaruhanga, the Chairman of the Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP)\nsays there are over 600 non-performing licenses that have been issued out to\nindividuals, whom he adds that have sat on the licenses and affected potential\nmining in some areas of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost\nof these non-performing licenses are in the pockets of some individuals, some\nof which have expired and are renewed through questionable channels,\u201d Karuhanga\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According\nto the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Uganda Oil and Gas Service\nProviders (AUGOS) Emmanuel Mugarura, the local content policy of Buy Uganda\nBuild Uganda (BUBU) instituted by Government has been affected by insufficient\ncapital and capacity gaps in the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGiven\nthat many local investors are not well experienced in the oil and gas business,\nit has been inevitable that larger and more experienced foreign firms with a\nhigher competitive edge will take the business from them,\u201d notes Mugarura.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karuhanga\nand Mugarura led a team of local investors and officials from UCMP and AUGOS to\na meeting with the Natural Resources Committee and presented concerns and\nrecommendations on how to improve the two sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karuhanga\nalso raised concern over limited Government support to natural resources that\nstill had the potential to grow the country\u2019s gross domestic product through mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKilembe\nmines has no new investor, and the efforts to get one by April 2018 have since\nstalled. We are also still waiting for the availability of about US$15 million\nto carry out an airborne geophysical survey of the Karamoja region,\u201d said\nKaruhanga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\ntold MPs that children in mining areas were out of school as they were being\nused as artisanal miners, many of whom had died due to negative effects of the\nbusiness, noting that proper funding for the mineral police unit would check on\nsuch negative issues in society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nstakeholders also called for fast-tracking the new Mining Bill as well as the\nestablishment of an autonomous regulatory body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nCommittee Deputy Chairperson, Hon. Lawrence Biyika Songa<\/p>\n\n\n\n
called\nfor adequate information on the concerns raised by the stakeholders in the\nsectors, so as to effectively debate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBorrowing money at high interest rates to fund investments in some sectors is not valuable. We must be systematic while dealing with the issue of financing especially in the mining sector,\u201d said Biyika Songa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parliamentary News<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stakeholders in the Oil and Gas sector want Parliament to engage the Government on challenges facing them regarding financing and licensing which they say frustrates local investors. Elly Karuhanga, the Chairman of the Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP) says there are over 600 non-performing licenses that have been issued out to individuals, whom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":8410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n