On Sunday, Ugandan President Museveni and youth leaders from the Kigezi subregion disagreed over how to deal with the iron ore, which has not been exported in more than a year, the Uganda Monitor reported.
When Museveni met young people in Kisoro, Rubanda, Kabale, Rukiga, Kanungu and Rukungiri at the Karo primary school near his hometown of Rwakitura, he turned down requests to allow miners to export iron ore that had been mined when he imposed the ban last February.
Speaking at an investor roundtable at the State House Entebbe earlier last year, Mr Museveni banned the export of iron ore, saying Uganda had lost heavily by selling the mineral without adding value.
After the ban took effect, the young leaders said thousands of their colleagues in the iron ore mining industry were emaciated by poverty, and demanded that iron ore left over from the roadside be exported while they waited for a steel plant in the region.
The youth leader reported that 2,500 of their colleagues in Kabale were affected, while more than 6,000 in Rubanda were working to export iron ore.
Mr Museveni rejected their pleas, saying that all iron ore mined must wait for a planned steel plant in Rubanda.
Uganda loses $480 (about 1.7m Ugandan shillings) for every tonne of raw ore it exports.
"What you did in the past was waste your wealth on iron ore that you sold," museveni said.
Indians take advantage of your ignorance to lower your salary.
Uganda is the world's second largest producer of iron ore.
Only Peru's is better than ours.
The price of smelting steel is $550 [about 2 million Ugandan shillings] per ton."
Museveni promised that the government would implement its plan to build a steel mill in Rubanda district, which would increase the value of iron ore and create jobs for young people in the area.
"The Indian who takes advantage of your ignorance can get $550 to find work for his children and earn income," museveni said.
We plan to build a steel plant in Rubanda.
Put your efforts there instead of asking us to let you eat the dust of your wealth.
I don't know who gave you the iron ore export licence, but it is certain that the people who issued it are your enemies."
PUDA History:
PUDA is a 28-year’s leading, growth-focused manufacturer of packing equipment and custom-engineered and integrated plant-wide system for dry bulk powders, flakes, and granules. PUDA-International Inc. is a Canadian based company located in Great Vancouver, Canada in 2004. Puda owns world famous partners like Southern Copper Corp. Rio Tinto Group, Zijin Group, LG China, OT Group, FL Smith, MCC,KAZ Minerals PLC and E.Mix and ECUACORRIENTE S.A.
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