Over 3,000 acres of Atiak sugar plantation destroyed in fire outbreak

Amuru, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 3,000 acres for sugarcane out-growers in Atiak sub county in Amuru district worth billions of shillings were lost in a devastating fire that ravaged the Atiak sugarcane plantation over the weekend. More square miles which are yet to be measured were lost in the plantation of the second cooperative society in the Atiak sugar scheme.

The fire incident affected out-growers of Gem Pacilo Farmers’ Cooperative Society and Atiak Out Growers Cooperative Society Ltd, that are growing sugarcane for sale to Atiak sugar factory.

Santa Joyce Laker, the chairperson of Atiak Sugar Plantation Out-growers Cooperative Society Ltd revealed in an interview on Wednesday that more than 3,000 acres of sugarcane belonging to their farmers were destroyed in the inferno.

She explains that the fire started from a sugarcane plantation belonging to Gem Pacilo Farmers’ Cooperative Society Out-growers and spread to their farmers’ plantation, burning all sugarcanes. According to Laker, the burnt sugarcanes were already matured and due for harvest this week.

She says billions of shillings of what the farmers should have earned this season have been lost in the inferno.

“The members are devastated because they expected money, we were going to start cutting and selling it [the sugarcanes] this week, so we have lost billions of shillings,” she told Uganda Radio Network in an interview.

Laker says their preliminary findings indicate the fire was set by herdsmen from a bush near the sugarcane plantation. She however faulted the security personnel for failure to respond in time to the scene despite being notified.

But the Amuru Resident District Commissioner Osborn Oceng says there were no reports made to the police at Atiak police station when the fire broke out in the plantation. He also notes that the management of the plantation failed to implement several pieces of advice given to them on creating fire lines (breaks) in the plantation.

Oceng says the government should reconsider the memorandum of understanding it signed with Atiak sugar factory due to the heavy losses being incurred.

Mohamud Abdi Ahmed, the Director of Atiak Sugar Factory told URN in an interview that as management, they are already trying to find a long-lasting solution to the persistent fire incidences at the sugarcane plantation.

Ahmed says the devastating fire has greatly affected the local farmers in the area who are the primary beneficiaries of the sugarcane growing project.

“Amongst ourselves, we are trying to find a long-term solution and that’s where we are right now, so I think it’s not a situation that we are trying to blame anybody but internally for the top management of government, ourselves as the company and also the cooperatives to find a collective solution,” said Ahmed.

It is not yet clear how many farmers under Gem Pacilo Farmers’ Cooperative Society Out-growers have been affected and the size of the sugarcane plantation ravaged by the weekend inferno.

The government through the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) has since 2017 been supporting farmers in the district to promote sugarcane growing through an out-grower scheme.

Through the scheme, the government aims at empowering and uplifting vulnerable members among them women who are beneficiaries of cooperative societies.

But over the years, repeated fire incidences on the sugarcane plantations in the district have left the beneficiaries of Gem Pacilo Farmers’ Cooperative Society Out-growers and Atiak Out Growers Cooperative Society Ltd in losses.

The government has a 40 percent share in Atiak sugar factory with the majority share belonging to business mogul Amina Hersi Moghe.

*****

URN