Iganga labour officer Abubaker Waiswa at the weekend intercepted a vehicle with at least 12 minors being take for sugarcane cutting.
It was reported that the children, aged between eight and 12, were being ferried from Kinawanswa Village, Bulamagi Subcounty in Iganga District.
Mr Waiswa said the Dyna Canter registration number UAW 695T was destined for a one Balaba’s plantation.
“I have learnt that these children were picked from Kinawanswa to go for sugarcane cutting in the plantation of one Balaba,” Mr Waiswa said of his random discovery.
He condemned the act of child labour, attributing it to negligence by parents to care for their children. He said the district was working closely with Platform for Labour Action to bring the perpetrators using children in child labour to justice.
“It is a bad act because these are young children and the nature of the work they are going to do is hazardous in nature and affects their health as well as their growth and education because they can’t perform while in this business,” Mr Waiswa said.
“Right now I am [in touch] with Platform for Labour Action and we are getting information from these children as we trace for the prime perpetrator but we have got the transporter and our aim is to end the habit of child labour, child trafficking and abuse of children’s rights,” he said.
The legal officer for Platform for Labour Action, Mr Godrey Kalulu Mutema, said it is time for children to be preparing for school.
“Any child needs to be at school and it is a right for them to be in school. Parents in Busoga are neglecting their children and there is a gap between children and their parents and this has landed these children in cases of child labour,” Mr Kalulu said.
The negligence of children by their parents has led to concerns by the general public asking security, legal officers attached to labour organisations and local leaders to physically engage parents of the children to establish their knowledge on involvement of the children in child labor.
“We ask police, legal officers handling labor issues in Iganga and local leaders to engage parents and their children to know where the problem is coming from and who is sending these children to sugarcane plantations,” Mr Samuel Diogo, a resident of Iganga, said.