OPINION
Editor, last week the finished oil product pipeline affected persons (PAPS) had a meeting at Kikuube primary school in Kikuube district to discuss on the ways of engaging the various more stakeholders to ensure that they have gotten their compensation that has so far taken 4 year but also to discuss the other new developments that taking place in villages that were valued by the chief valuer of Uganda National Oil company(UNOC).
The meeting was organized following the rumors that some official from Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) are constructing the poultry houses along the finished product pipeline in Kikuube district to benefit from the compensation. The poultry houses have been so far constructed in two sub-counties of Buhimba and Kiziranfumbe in the villages of Kisiga, Kisambo and Kigwango with the targeting of benefiting on the compensation money.
As the project affected persons, we believe that these new developments that are currently taking place in the finished product oil pipeline are the one that are delaying our compensation money. This is because all the valuation activities were done between 2020 to 2021 but since then, we have never received our compensation money. The serious investigation should be done on the poultry houses that are being constructed in our areas.
We have been engaging various stakeholders such as the Kikuube Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Civil society Organized (CSOS) and Inspector General Government’s Office Hoima (IGG) to pressure Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) but few project affected persons were compensated.
The delays in compensation by UNOC have instigated project affected persons (PAPS) to hate the development Finished product Oil Pipeline in the districts because UNOC is not urgently responding to our issue of compensation. It is noted that in 2020 when they started a valuation process, they put the cut dates on our land and other property.
This stop us from using our for agriculture activities hence leading to shortage of food among the project affected persons in addition to that some houses which were affected by the pipeline are in the bad conditions .
The proposed 211 km long multi-products pipeline will evacuate refined products from the refinery at Kabaale Hoima district to a storage terminal at Namwabula, Mpigi District.
Therefore , we call upon the Kikuube Resident District Commissioner (RDC) , Inspector General of the Government (IGG) to investigate the poultry houses that are being constructed in the land that were already valued for and also UNOC ensure that project Affected Persons are being compensated because they have taken long without getting their money.
By Paul Kato,
Project affected person, Kikuube district.
katop.adyeeri@gmail.com
