The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among has warned against the mismanagement of the Acomai irrigation project in Bukedea that she said has seen government inject in a lot of money.
"I am glad that the dream that started in 2016 has finally come into reality. My people here know how long this journey has been and how much we need this Project," Among said.
"I don't want you (Ministry of Agriculture) to leave this baby to the hands of people who will mismanage it. I am going to monitor this project myself. Honourable minister, please keep a keen eye on the contractors. If unsupervised, they could easily turn our dream into a nightmare. I volunteer myself to monitor and supervise this project so that our dream will fully be realized.”
Among was speaking during the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the shs71 billion Acomai irrigation project.
The project under the Agricultural Value Chain Development Programme in the Ministry of Agriculture is intended to increase agricultural productivity, improve post-harvest handling, agro-processing and value addition, market access and competitiveness and will also contribute to the success of the Parish Development Model.
The Deputy Speaker who is also the Woman MP for Bukedea insisted that the Ministry of Agriculture must jealously monitor the implementation of the project that she said has made people wait for long, adding that if not well monitored, government might lose a lot of money.
She also noted that the project will go a long way in dealing with the problem of floods that has been affecting people.
The Minister for Agriculture, Frank Tuwmebaze noted that the Agriculture Value Chain Development strategy would be adopted in the implementation of this project for sustainably increased household incomes.
He also pledged to ensure timely implementation of the project and promised to compensate the locals for land as soon as possible.
A total of Shs1 billion has been earmarked by government to compensate the project affected persons.
The project covering 1,608hectares will come with associated infrastructure including administration block, two drying yards, warehouse, workshop, bridge and 58kms of access roads.
