The government is set to lose at least 200 billion if the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation continues to hold onto the Shs43bn allocated to the Tropical Institute of Development Innovations(TRIDI), officials have said.
TRIDI, along with the government of Uganda is implementing the commercialization of the Sericulture Technologies and Innovations Project for household wealth creation and employment generation in Uganda.
The project aims at boosting the production of silk through raring silk worms for industrial processing into fabrics and other products.
The journey to invest in silk was formerly recognized in 2010 and officially started receiving government funding in 2018. Already, 2200 acres of land have been acquired and two factories established in Kween and Sheema districts.
At least Shs43bn had been earmarked for the project for the 2022/2023 financial year but this has not been accessed up to date.
Mr. Clet Wandui Masiga, the Executive Director of the Institute and project Chief Investigator says they have already incurred irreparable losses and that any further delays will just complicate the situation further. The project has already rolled out in 24 out of the 50 districts on plan and is expected to provide 300,000 jobs in its 56 planned centers.
“Parliament appropriated Shs43bn to ensure commercial production of silk. The Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development made available the funds but up to now, we have not received any funding. The delayed release of the funds is causing economic waste of the investment and denying Ugandans jobs both at technical and none technical levels,”he lamented.
If the delays continue, Mr. Masiga says the project estimated losses are expected to shoot up to a whopping Shs73bn.
In the 2021/2022 FY, they established 682 acres of land with Mulberry bringing the total acreage to 2230. If properly managed, this acreage would bring in Shs4bn in mulberry leaves, Shs8bn in worn cocoons, Shs30bn in the sale of silk yarns, and Shs40bn in silk fabrics this financial year alone on top of at least 5000 jobs.
At a gross investment in the project of Shs800bn, Uganda would wait for only five years to begin reaping over 2.8 trn annually of which Shs1.7trn would be retained by farmers hence contributing to the fight against poverty. The government is also expected to earn Shs500bn in taxes annually.
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