By Acipa Doreen
Lira—13, November 2021: Proprietors of grain milling factories in Lira city on Friday petitioned Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) to Lira city authority for shutting down their factories without notifying them during their Thursday November 11 operation.
The proprietors, under their umbrella body Lira Small-Scale Industries Association Limited (LSSIA) stormed the offices Resident City Commissioner (RCC) claiming that UNBS did not notify them or communicated.
Emmanuel Akeny is one of the LSSIA leaders. He said they will open their factories, adding that they will follow all the directives.
Peter Enyang who is the chairperson of LSSIA announced they are not against the operation of UNBS. “They should have preferred a dialogue before implementing their directives.”
George Rashid Opio of Kakoge maize millers poured his fears that if the factories remain shut for long, it will create a sizeable gap in the employment sector.
James Wamaliya, another trader stated that “so much pressure and resentment UNBS used on them wasn’t called for.”
By press time, RCC Lawrence Egole was trying all means to find out where the gap is, and how the traders can be helped.
TND News spoke to UNBS Lira branch spokesperson Sylvia Kyalo Kirambo, and she said maize millers are supposed to be certified by the bureau. “Majority of them are not certified so what we did was to come and make sure they were reminded about it because it is mandatory.”
According to her, on Monday, they will be having an engagement with the affected traders at city hall because, she added, “Some premises were closed down.”
“We usually do not communicate reminding you on what you are supposed to do, we only communicate when we are coming for a certification, audit but not when we are carrying out an enforcement,” Kirambo told this publication.
Discover more from tndNews, Uganda
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.