BIDCO’s $10m palm oil mill slated for November

Sep 23, 2009

THE palm oil processing mill on Bugala islands in Kalangala district will be ready mid November, the Bidco managing director, Kodey Rao has said.

By Ronald Kalyango

THE palm oil processing mill on Bugala islands in Kalangala district will be ready mid November, the Bidco managing director, Kodey Rao has said.

The $10m facility has a production capacity of 25 tonnes per hour.

“It will start with 25 tonnes but later on when all the planted palm oil fruits mature, it will be adjusted to 45 tonnes per hour,” said Rao.

Rao was recently leading a delegation from the ministries of agriculture, and water and environment, National Environment Management Authority and National Forestry Authority on a tour of the plantation and oil processing mill.

Rao said when the processing starts, palm oil will be crushed into crude oil and shipped to Jinja for purification.

He noted that the company's Jinja plant, inaugurated in October 2005, has an installed capacity of 450 tonnes per day; 300 tonnes for oil refining and 150 tonnes for soap manufacturing.

Agriculture minister Hope Mwesigye assured Rao that the Government will encourage more farmers under the outgrowers scheme to embrace the project.

Rao said they had utilised 5,650ha out of the 6,500ha of land the Government had given him to cater for the nucleus estate. Initially, an agreement was reached between the Government and Bidco to grant them 10,000 hectares of land, out of which 3,500 was supposed to be under the outgrowers scheme.

Nelson Basaalidde, the Kalangala Oil Palm Growers Association manager, said only 1,150ha had been planted. This means there is still a deficit of 2,350ha.
Rao said because of inadequate land, they have planted only about 1.7 million seedlings. “We have applied to the ministry to import an additional 300,000 seedlings,” said Rao.

He said they anticipate to plant six million seedlings by 2012. This means that when land is made available, the project will cover 26,500 hectares and produce 140,000 tonnes of palm kernel oil.
“Government should provide us with the required land as laid out in the agreement to enable us reach our production capacity,” said Rao.

Connie Masaba, the vegetable oil development project coordinator, said the Government was aware of the land shortage and does not want the project to be affected when production starts.

She informed the delegation that part of the 6,500ha meant for the nucleus estate, isn’t accessible because of rocks and lake shores. Some tenants occupied part of it after it had been bought by the government, she noted.

Masaba appealed to mailo landowners and absentee landlords to either sell the land to government or become outgrowers such that more palm oil is produced.
“The seedlings imported by the investor needs to be planted, otherwise they will go to waste. Much as we are looking for land, people should understand that not every land in the country can sustain palm oil cultivation,” said Masaba. She said the area for palm oil cultivation should have well-distributed rainfall of 2,000mm every year and a minimum temperature of 17oC and maximum of 28oC.
“This makes palm oil cultivation limited to Kalangala and Bundibugyo though the latter would provide low yields because of population pressure,” said Masaba.

Mwesigye, however, said her ministry will encourage more farmers in Mukono, Buvuma islands, Masaka and Masindi to embrace the project.

“The NRM government wants to achieve its prosperity for-all goal. we shall also replicate similar projects with different enterprises in all parts of the country,” she said.
She also promised the investors that the delegation will sit and find a solution to the disputed land on the island.

“We want the project to succeed. I have noticed that before farmers start earning money, it has now become more evident that Kalangala is now a model district in the entire country,” she said.
She hoped that when palm oil processing begins, Uganda will be in position to save about $200m, currently spent on oil importation.
Jesica Eriyo, the environment state minister, asked the stakeholders and the farmers to recycle the polythene bags instead of burning them. “The act of burning polythene bags pollutes the environment, they need to be recycled for further use,” said Eriyo.

Rao said they emphasise a no-wastage approach. He said some of their successful brands include Ufuta, Fortune and Golden fry cooking oils, Kimbo and Cowboy cooking fats as well as White Star, Bull and Kuku washing soaps.

Rao noted that Uganda will reduce oil importation over time once the mill is in operation. “It will be the first for Uganda in the oil industry to have such a project born in Uganda to bear its fruits,” noted Rao.

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