The Vice President Rtd. Maj. Jesca Alupo said the money will be used for fixing broken bridges, rehabilitate and restore the power supply before government succeeds in identifying an investor.
The Manager Kilembe Mines, Fred Kyakonye Welaga says the current staff is helping to secure and maintain factory machines and the over 14 million tonnes of cobalt stockpiles.
Alupo gave the ministry up to two weeks to have advertised for investors. Alupo said that if an investor is sought, it will control resource wastage. She added that letting the mines waste away denies Uganda a lot of revenue but also slows down the progress of Kasese district.
Speaking at the closure of a two-day mineral wealth conference in Kampala on Thursday, Irene Muloni, the Minister of Energy and Minerals Development said the investor will be required in the new arrangement to carry out the entire chain from exploration to beneficiation of the resource.
In 2013 government awarded the concession to Tibet Hima Mining Company to run till 2038. According to the agreement, the company, which reportedly was the best, was to pay a signature bonus of 4.3 million dollars, equivalence 16 billion shillings, a concession fees of 3.6 billion shillings and rehabilitate the mines at 600 billion shillings.
More than 3,000 residents of Kilembe Mines estates in Kasese Municipality are consuming water from the rusty metallic pipes, putting their lives at risk. The water is pumped directly from River Nyamwamba.
Two camps for the victims have been set up at Kasese Primary School in Kasese municipality and Kyanjuki in Kilembe. Life in both camps is appalling but the flood survivors have nowhere else to go.
