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President Museveni recently passed a directive to ban all timber exports in the country. This has now started to bite as private companies in the tree growing and timber harvest business have started laying off workers.
Some of these companies include Busoga Forestry Company, New Forests Foundation, and Besepo – Uganda LTD.
Mr. Ponsiano Bessel, the executive director of Besepo Uganda said operations in the sector are being affected by the directive.
He, therefore, said the president needs to revise the directive. The sector has been providing jobs to the local communities but now has no option apart from reducing the number of workers.
“I have 250 local people [employees] from the ground with no qualifications and government’s policy is employment. My brother [another panelist] said he had over 500 and very many Ugandans who have increased to 13%, when employing people, where did they go?” Basesa wondered.
He made the remarks during a dialogue organized by the World Wide Fund aimed at helping those affected by the timber exports ban. They discussed the way forward of the operations after the president’s directive.
Recently, Museveni ordered the cancellation of all licenses and permits issued to individuals and companies to harvest timber from forests.
Check Also;
- Arua Central Forest Reserve Not Allocated To Investors – NFA
- Use These Rains To Plant More Trees, Activists
- District Protests Allocation of Forest Reserve To Minister
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![[dropcap]A[/dropcap] section of women in Bugongo parish and Nawangaiza parish in Nawandala Sub County, Iganga District have decried the near-impossible terms set for them to access GROW funds. They have now petitioned their woman member of parliament for Iganga Hon. Kauma Sauda Alibaawo to ask the government for revised terms and conditions. This is to enable them to benefit from the program. The disgruntled women accuse the implementers of the program of charging the money. They are also asking for their land titles and land agreements. They said that such properties are governed by their husbands. These, therefore want the government through their woman MP to intervene and revise the requirements for one to benefit. The women were on Wednesday at Namabwere primary school in Nawandala Sub County. They had gathered in their respective groups to receive over 300 chickens from Hon Alibaawo in her campaign to improve the livelihood of women in Iganga district. Each group was given 50 chicken as start-up capital in their journey to prosperity. Read what some leaders said; Ms Naigambi Lydia from Nawandala Trading Centre says, “They solicited money from us through opening bank accounts and depositing Shs80,000. They also asked for land titles and land agreements from us yet we don’t have such things. I was informed that I needed to have a business with a capital of Shs4m yet my capital was very small.” The chairperson Kisoboka Saving Group in Nawandala Ms. Nakagolo Faith said they were not able to join the program. This is given the many conditions attached. She also asked their woman MP to raise their concerns to the relevant offices. The MP condemned the mode of implementation of the program. She cited that it has turned to benefit the well-off class of women other than the intended group. She further asked the government to intervene saying the current strings attached to the programme are very tight to accommodate a common woman. GROW project is a Government of Uganda initiative that arose out of the need to respond to the needs of women entrepreneurs. This is especially those who want to grow their businesses, sustain their self-employment and create more jobs. Check Also; Iganga District NRM Leaders Urge Museveni To Fulfill Election Promises Of 2021 International Women's Day: Celebrating Progress Towards Equality](https://i0.wp.com/newslexpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Iganga-women-decry-tough-terms-to-access-GROW-funds-e1731738339732.jpg?resize=300%2C160&ssl=1)
