GULU-The operation of Gulu Logistics Hub [GLH] will commence in March 2023 after the completion of phase one of the project, according to a top official.
The Shs 29.5 billion hub is funded by the European Union [EU] and UK’s Department for International Development [DFID] through TradeMark East Africa [TEA] which works in East Africa to reduce barriers to trade and improve business competitiveness.
GLH project is among the flagship government initiatives in the trade and transport sector and a crucial component of various activities to be undertaken to spur growth in Northern Uganda.
It is expected to serve trade corridors of Kampala – Gulu – Elegu/Nimule – Juba and Gulu – Pakwach Goli/Pader/Lira/Vurra and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
GLH will act as a designated area for transportation, organisation, separation, coordination, and distribution of goods for national and international transit on a commercial basis.
It will further be utilised for storage and warehousing, distribution of freight, custom clearance, trucking and shipping, offices for the logistics players and users, and other value-added services such as last-mile connectivity, packaging, and re-export, among others.
David Asimwe, a civil engineer attached to Uganda Railway Corporation [URC] told this reporter that the first phase of construction was completed in 2021, even though the completion of the whole project is behind schedule by 18 months.
He said the construction of the vehicle holding area would commence soon, having relocated remains of victims of the Lord’s Resistance Army [LRA] who were buried there.
Asiimwe said that they are working on renovation and connection of the Tororo-Gulu lines to the hub, as well as the completion of the 2.5 kilometres access road linking the hub to Gulu-Nimule road. The road works currently stand at 42 percent, he said, adding it will be ready by February 2023, a month before the hub begins to operate.
According to Asimwe, currently, the Uganda Railway Corporation is evaluating a series of private operators who will operate the hub, and once the process is complete, the hub.
Asiimwe was on Wednesday updating a visiting delegation from the EU, the major funders of the project, who were in the company of Betty Aol Ochan, Gulu City Woman MP, Grace Kwiocwiny, the Minister of State for Northern Rehabilitation and other Office of the Prime Minister officials.
Private operator?
Asiimwe said the option for a private operator was taken in order to have efficient management of the facility to be run under the public-private partnership [PPP], saying the hub would face management challenges if government operates it.
He said the successful private company to operate the facility will be tasked to invest in the second phase of the construction of the hub including building two storage facilities among others.
“We have a PPP arrangement which started sometime back. Currently, we are evaluating bidders and we hope by March 2023 we will have the selected operator. The selected operator will run the first phase and invest in phase two,” Asimwe said.
Minister Kwiocwiny asked that the hub be widely advertised to key local and regional stakeholders since operations at the hub are to begin soon.
She wants other government ministries and agencies like the Ministry of Trade involved in the marketing of the hub, and other potential local products that can be exported to other countries.
Kwiocwiny said the local investors must be supported in value addition to improve the quality of their products for export, saying the region produces crops like soybeans, sunflower, cotton, from which animal feed is extracted.
MP Ochan said farmers’ cooperatives should be supported with value-adding machinery in order to tap into the export opportunities that will come with the commencement of operations of the hub.
The MP said if the locals are not supported with value addition, they won’t have any financial benefits and thus, she said poverty levels would continue to deteriorate instead of improving.
“The farmer groups must be supported in value addition so that they are able to tap into the business opportunity that is soon arriving. Otherwise, we will only remain, hosts, while people from other areas will come, and make money from here,” she said.
https://thecooperator.news/gulu-artists-get-free-space-to-showcase-their-works/
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