Africa-Press – Uganda. The parliamentary Public Accounts Committee yesterday grilled officials from Jacobsen Uganda, the company that installed the 50 megawatts thermal power plant at Namamve, over their refusal to vacate the plant and hand it over to the government.
The company entered into an agreement with government in 2017 for a 13-year period to build, operate and transfer the 50MW to the government. In 2008, President Museveni commissioned the thermal power plant, raising hopes that the rampant load shedding that had hit the country would come to an end.
Yesterday, committee members led by Busiro East MP Medard Lubega Ssegona tasked the company officials led by the board chairperson, Mr Lawrence Levy Omulen, to explain their stand.
“Your contract with the government expired on September 15, but up to date, you have refused to hand over the facility. Under what legal regime are you still occupying the facility? ” Mr Ssegona questioned.
Several legislators also took turns to question the power company for their continued stay at the €98 million facility that has remained non-operational.
Mr Omulen told the legislators that while their contract expired in September, under the agreement, they were supposed to transfer the plant to the government within a period of six to 12 months. He said they have been engaging the government to extend their contract by another six months, which has not been concluded.
Mr Omulen also said the government was yet to compensate them for additional land they acquired for the plant.
“Chair, you remember when we placed our bid, this plant was supposed to be constructed at Mutundwe, where government had offered us land. However, when an analysis was done, it was discovered that the land was situated in heavily populated area. Government later on allocated us land at the industrial park, which was a swamp. When we carried out a geotechnical analysis, we found out that this land cannot support heavy generators, so we had to look for an alternative land for the power plant,” he said.
Mr Omulen said the government is supposed to compensate them for the additional investments and the value of the plant and, therefore, they cannot vacate the facility.
Extension terms
Under the terms of agreement, Jacobsen Uganda was supposed to hand over the power plant to government in September last year. However, they requested for an extension which was granted. The extension expired on September 15, but to date, the company has refused to hand over the facility to the government.
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