Buliisa landlords count losses as oil workers sleep in camps

Buliisa: Traders and landlords in the oil-rich Buliisa District are counting losses after their houses have remained unoccupied since most oil workers reside in camps.

This was revealed by several landlords and traders while in an engagement meeting with officials from the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), Buliisa district traders, and oil companies in Buliisa town council, Buliisa District.

Speaking during the engagement held recently, the Chairman of Buliisa traders, Mr. Cuthbert Kyahurwa, disclosed that over 700 rooms that are meant for accommodation have remained unoccupied.

Kyahurwa said most of the landlords acquired loans from banks and constructed standard houses for accommodation, hoping that workers from oil companies would rent them, but to their dismay, they have remained unoccupied.

He stressed that even other businesses are dormant since oil workers are confined in camps and do not buy any items from local traders.

‘’Traders always watch trucks passing by their business centers to the industrial area and vice versa, and most of the goods are purchased from other districts. There is nothing we are benefiting from the discovery of oil,’’ he stressed.

Godfrey Businge, the town clerk for Buliisa Town Council, decried the loss of revenue collection in the district due to non-operational hotels and lodges in the district.

‘’Most hotels and lodges in the district are not meeting customer expectations, and as a district, we are collecting low revenue.’’

Businge asked PAU and other concerned ministries to revise policies made before to allow oil workers to reside outside camps in order to boost business in the district.

Gilbert Tibasiima, the district vice chairman, asked PAU to organize trainings for local traders in the district about the standards required so as to enable them to supply items and gain profits rather than just watch beautiful roads without business.

Ronald Komakech, the Kasinyi village LC1 Chairperson where the central processing facility sits, however, decried the tight conditions and standards set for suppliers to meet before supplying camps, purposely to kick off Buliisa residents from business.

Akintole Muhuuta, the deputy resident district commissioner for Buliisa, advised that the house allowance for oil workers be embedded in their salary and allow them to sleep outside camps for traders to benefit from the industry.

In response, James Musherure, an official from the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), said they are set to investigate the rampant private oil camps constructed, causing losses to Buliisa traders.

Musherure narrated that initially only 4000 critical officers were meant to sleep in camps, not all oil workers.

He confirmed the investigation about how other workers started sleeping in camps, as well as the camp owners.

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