Hoima| Leaders and residents in the Bunyoro sub-region have expressed dissatisfaction with oil and gas companies, blaming them for failing to deliver on promises of prioritising local content in employment and business opportunities.
According to some residents and leaders who spoke to tndNews, Uganda, oil and gas companies have not done enough to ensure local participation in creating both business and employment opportunities for the host communities.
Hoima district LC5 chairperson Mugisha Uthman Mubarak noted irregularities in job opportunities in the sector, saying that local workers are always offered low-paying casual jobs.
“Even when locals are hired, they are mostly offered low-paying casual jobs, which is contrary to the aims of promoting local content in the industry,” Mugisha said.
“You also see that when contracts are awarded, companies in Bunyoro are often given low-value contracts, limiting meaningful local participation in the oil and gas sector,” he continued.
The Hoima district chairperson urged oil and gas companies to also ensure adequate corporate social responsibility to support the project-host local governments.
Wembabazi Beatrice, Woman MP for Hoima, called for the recruitment of community workers and access to opportunities in the oil and gas sector.
Wembabazi, however, urged local communities to embrace local content initiatives that can enable them to benefit from the sector.
Kusemererwa Leonard, a Hoima City resident and local contractor, expressed dissatisfaction with oil and gas companies, saying they have done more harm than good.
According to him, his company, along with others in Bunyoro, is owed about US$10 million for services provided more than three years ago.
However, Kusemererwa did not disclose the name of the oil company that has failed to clear its arrears.
Mwesigwa Richard, aka Senior Carpenter from Hoima City, called on oil and gas companies to prioritise participation of the project host communities.
Currently, the Bunyoro sub-region is hosting two major oil and gas projects of King Fisher under CNOC and Tilenga under TotalEnergies EP Uganda.
In response to the concerns, Eric Odongo, an economist at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, implored local business owners to register their companies on the National Supplier Database (NSD) to qualify for contracts in the oil fields.
On delayed payments, Odongo advised local contractors to be proactive when applying for contracts and also form a joint venture to meet the required supply capacity in the sector to boost local content involvement.
He noted that disputes between the oil companies and the contractors are now before the President, leaving the authority with no mandate to intervene.
Kiconco Roidah, the head of exploration and new ventures at Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), noted great improvement in Ugandans’ participation in the sector, with the majority from the project’s sub-region, Bunyoro.
According to her, it’s due to oil companies’ interventions in skilling local communities for oil industry work.
Jessica Kyeyune, the national content specialist at UNOC, urged local business owners and farmers to explore other ventures, including an oil refinery and international airport, to reach international markets rather than focusing only on oil and gas opportunities.
“Once the refinery is built and begins operations, the Kabalega Industrial Park will be boosted with products of the refinery which will act as raw materials for the petrochemical industries, but also link you to international market space,” she said.
”We still expect the final investment decision regarding the refinery to be reached by December this year, with expected work to take about three years,” Kyeyune revealed.
All these were said during the July 31 suppliers’ development workshop in Hoima City. The event was aimed at empowering communities to compete in Uganda’s oil and gas sector.
Discover more from tndNews, Uganda
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
