Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development officials are under scrutiny for failure to implement a resettlement action plan for affected persons at the oil refinery project, which cost the country over UGX1 billion in fines to the contractor.
Energy and Mineral Development officials have come under scrutiny after inexplicably prolonging and failing to implement a resettlement plan for persons affected by oil exploration activities in the Albertine oilfields.
According to the audit report to Parliament, the resettlement action plan was meant to last eight months but it took four years, costing taxpayers at least UGX1 billion.
Officials led by the Ministry Permanent Secretary Robert Kasande were appearing before the Parliament Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to these concerns in which government acquired 29 Square kilometres of land in Buseruka sub-county, Hoima District, through implementation of a resettlement action plan that provides for compensation and resettlement of project affected persons whose land to be used to construct the refinery.
In August 2017, Uganda and Tanzania set a deadline of 2019/2020 to have concluded the construction of the crude oil pipeline.
Ibrahim Kasita, the communications specialist at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, said the route in Uganda will traverse the districts of Hoima, Kyankwanzi, Kiboga, Mityana, Wakiso, Mpigi, Masaka and Rakai before crossing into Tanzania.
However, government is currently focused on first acquiring land between Hoima and Buloba in Wakiso District
In the acquisition of land for the pipeline, the Energy ministry looked at a corridor that can accommodate a road, a power line, fibre optic and communications cable and the pipeline.
“The government plans to acquire a utility corridor of 133 metres wide that will contain pipelines, a dual carriage highway, a communications cable and a power transmission line. Out of the 133 metres of the utility corridor, 38 metres are earmarked for the pipelines. The utility corridor is approximately 210km long, from Kabaale, Hoima to Buloba near Kampala,