Wakiso District has appealed to the Government for support in raising Shs7 billion to purchase land for an industrial park.
The District speaker, Simon Nsubuga, said five square miles had been identified but there was no money to make the purchase yet and there is not enough money coming from the four municipalities of Kira, Makindye-Ssabagabo, Entebbe and Nansana.
Mr Nsubuga, also the councillor for Wakiso Town Council, said council had agreed with all the four municipalities to remit 20 per cent of their revenue to the district.
The district has 27 sub-counties, four municipalities and a couple of town councils all populated by approximately 957,300 according to the 2002 National Population and Housing Census figures. In 2013, the district council passed a resolution requesting to be granted a city status and its also has three universities, several tertiary, secondary and primary education institutions some of whose graduates would be employed in the industries.
Industrial parks lagging
Uganda has nine industrial parks that are yet to be fully developed. However, Uganda Investment Authority executive director Jolly Kaguhangire said her institution’s five-year plan is to have 22 operational industrial parks.
Talking to journalists last year, Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) executive director Gideon Badagawa wondered why the industrial parks project that has ability to transform the fortunes of this economy is still dragging years after it was proposed.
He also said investors did not want to do business where the burden and cost of fixing social services are on their shoulders.
“We thought the industrial and business park where everything – power, water and railway lines, among other facilities, would be readily available. But this does not seem to be the case,” he said.
