It is said that about 532 million tonnes of rare earth elements have been identified in an area stretching a distance of 40-kilometres from the Igombe and Makuutu in Bugweri, Nakigo and Bulamagi in Iganga district and Imanyiro and Buwaaya sub-counties in Mayuge district. This area has almost 5000 households.
Persons affected by the planned extraction of rare earth
elements from the districts of Bugweri,
Iganga and Mayuge, have asked officials to expedite the process of compensation, before
embarking on the task.
It is said that about 532 million tonnes of rare
earth elements have been identified in an area stretching a distance of
40-kilometres from the Igombe and Makuutu
in Bugweri, Nakigo and Bulamagi in Iganga district and Imanyiro and
Buwaaya sub-counties in Mayuge district. This area has almost 5000 households.
An initial exploration
carried out in 2013 estimated that the rare earth mineral deposits in the area were
worth over USD 370 billion Shillings. The rare earth elements are used in the construction and manufacturing of automobile parts, and as components in the manufacture of several technology devices like digital cameras, computer hard
disks and monitors, smartphones and flat-screen televisions, and lighting applications, such as studio lighting
and cinema projection among
others.
But residents from the said areas told journalists on Thursday
that officials from Rwenzori Rare Metals Limited, a company that was licensed to conduct
exploration in the Busoga sub-region, where most of Uganda's deposits
lie, have been periodically surveying their
land and tasking them to sign agreements with no clear steps for compensation.
Jamada Gwaikubi, a resident of Gilamo village, in Makuutu sub-county, in Bugweri district, says that the surveying started without any project briefs to the
affected persons raising suspicion about the operations. He adds that their compensation should be based on the current market rates in order to enable residents to find suitable alternatives.
//Cue in; “abantu bano…
Cue out…wena bweli.”//
But Idi Mbatya, a resident of Naitando village in Igombe sub-county says that Rwenzori rare metals officials should
devise means of resettling them in already constructed housing units to prevent
misuse of funds.
//Cue in; “ebintu…
Cue out…batuleke.”//
Mayuge District chairperson Frank Tibagendeka says that
the local leadership is liaising with officials to ensure that the affected persons are evaluated and transparently
compensated before actual extraction starts.
Meanwhile, the Iganga Resident District Commissioner Sadala
Wandera says that some of the beneficiaries had shunned their farms on
the assumption that the compensation processes would be effected before the close
of the current financial year.
Wandera adds that they have embarked on efforts to improve the flow of information between the residents, government agencies and contractors, as a way of addressing the panic.
In recent interviews, the chairperson of the Rwenzori
Rare Metals Company, Richard Kaijuka said that the affected persons will be
temporarily relocated and resettled in decent houses that the company will construct after the excavation of minerals.
