Vice President Ssekandi advises workers

PIC: VP Ssekandi disembarks from a tour vehicle. Photo Saad Shamim 

Vice President Edward Ssekandi's has advised workers of the $60m (sh203b) Tiang Tang Industrial Park located in Mbabala Industrial Park in Mukono district to take their work seriously.

Ssekandi urged the employees to be friendly with the Chinese, to work hard and to see their employment opportunity as chances other people in other areas not employed envy them for.

Ssekandi led a team of ministers and top government officials to ascertain the progress of the park. It was founded in 2009 and launched by President Yoweri Museveni in July 2014. Ssekandi commended the group for the employment they were creating.

Paul Zhang, chairman, Mike Wang, general manager and Lucy Zhang, chief executive officer Tian Tang Group welcomed Ssekandi to the park. Zhang said the Tiang Tang Industrial Park sits on 33 acres of land where four factories are established. The four factories manufacture mattresses, steel and plywood products. Wang said the park employs over 1,200 workers and pays over $4m (sh13.5b) annually in taxes.

The Chinese ambassador to Uganda Zhao Yali said China was willing to partners with Uganda to enable it achieve transformation and wealth creation.

Yali underlined that industrialization and modernizing of agriculture were two key priority areas that can enable Uganda achieve middle income status by 2020.

Evelyn Anite, state minister for finance in charge of privatization and investment noted that China was the leader in foreign direct investment in Uganda and was contributing a lot to the economic growth of Uganda.

She underscored that the reasons investors were coming to Uganda was because of peace and stability, good business climate and many incentives government was offering.

The group's workers appreciated their employment but asked for improvement in the work conditions saying they toil for long hours and get low pay. But the company bosses said they were paying according the state of the business and following the law and they argued the wages were good.

State Minister for water Ronald Kibule, also area MP for Mukono North revealed that the Chinese investors were buying local products such as red pepper and foodstuffs from the area farmers.