By Vision Reporters

A SECTION of Kakira sugar cane outgrowers have stopped supplying Kakira Sugar Works factory. This was after Kamigo residents in Kakira threatened to burn or vandalise any lorry ferrying sugar cane to the factory. The firm belongs to the Madhvani Group of Companies.

S.K Iyengar, the company secretary, told The New Vision in an interview last week that supply of sugar cane from outgrowers in Kakira sub-county had reduced. He confirmed that Kamigo residents had threatened to vandalised the firms vehicles found ferrying cane.

“The factory is operating, but I cannot estimate the extent of the reduction in cane supply to the factory by the outgrowers,” Iyengar said, adding that residents had also blocked feeder roads with rocks, barring vehicles from taking sugar cane to the factory.

Iyengar said the factory has 7,000 outgrowers, who supply 50% of cane to the factory.

He added that the firm was discussing with the outgrowers through the Busoga Sugarcane Outgrowers Association to resume cane supply to the factory so that production is not affected.

He dismissed media reports claiming that the sugar-maker wanted to grab land in Kamigo, Luzinga and in Kamuli district to plant cane and evict over 20,000 residents in Jinja.

“We have no land in Kamuli or Luzinga. We are not going to evict anybody from the Kamigo land because the Land Act protects the residents as bonafide occupants,” Iyengar explained.

“What we want is to open up boundaries of our 500-acre land there.”

He revealed that Kakira Sugar Works has a freehold title of the disputed land. About 100 families are occupying the land.

the 500 acres of land in Kamigo village which indicates that there are less human settlements on the disputed land, eight acres are occupied with trees that were planted by KSW and the rest of the acres are occupied by sugar cane plantations belonging to out grower farmers.”

He said KSW dragged Jinja district to court for stopping them from surveying or opening up boundaries of the 500 acres of land until both parties settled the matter amicably.

“KSW took Jinja district local council in the Jinja high court because we want court to direct the district authorities to appoint a government surveyor to open up boundaries of the disputed 500 acres of land transparently in order to know the people settled on it,” Iyengar said adding that they will not evict any one from the land and residents will continue utilizing it freely.