'OWC to curb rural-urban migration'

Nov 10, 2016

"People do not have to come to urban areas to seek for opportunities but opportunities are being created in the country side so that they appreciate that they can still prosper and be able to survive in the rural settings,"

Minister of state for housing, Chris Baryomunsi has said that the government is heavily investing in agriculture with its program operation wealth creation in order to stop the increasing number of people migrating to urban areas in search of jobs.

"People do not have to come to urban areas to seek for opportunities but opportunities are being created in the country side so that they appreciate that they can still prosper and be able to survive in the rural settings," he said.

He said that government is reorganizing its service delivery approaches and industrialization to be able to take services and amenities to rural areas.

He stated that currently they are encouraging investors to go to rural communities and get better incentives so that the rural people can be motivated to remain in rural areas.

Baryomunsi was speaking at the opening of a weeklong professional development course in energy transition organized by supporting municipalities in Sustainable Energy Transitions (SAMSET) Uganda.

The training which is taking place at Victoria University is aimed at enabling researchers and stakeholders in the energy sector to come up with research and studies that will promote responsible use of and access to clean energy.

Alex Ndimbwami, a lecturer Uganda Martyrs University, who is also taking part in the course as a researcher said that Ugandans currently rely largely on biomass for cooking and are contracting respiratory problems, something that can be avoided if people are introduced to an alternative energy source.

He said that there is a lot of untapped sustainable alternative energy in the country and through SAMSET, they are piloting it in Uganda, adding that when implemented, it will create employment for the local communities.

The course has attracted delegates from South Africa, Ghana, United Kingdom and Ugandan representatives from the districts of Kasese, Jinja and Ntugamo where the project is being piloted.

Baryomunsi who opened the training stated that though operation wealth creation is being implemented, on its own, it will not eliminate the phenomenon of migration and the upsurge in population growth.

"We need to build capacity in the urban areas to manage these surges of population because they need housing, better services and sustainable energy," he said.

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