Bwanika to Build Tiles Factory in Teso

Soroti — Presidential candidate Abed Bwanika has promised to tap into the available resources in Teso sub-region by setting up factories.

The People's Progressive Party president said the people of Teso are sitting on unexploited wealth and promised to set up a tiles factory where the people of Teso would be given first priority.

Dr Bwanika was addressing the media on the progress of his campaigns in Soroti District on Wednesday.

He said Ngora District shall be the central industrial place for the factory and all nearby rocks stretching from Budaka to Teso would be crushed for making tiles.

"Imagine that a tile machine costs only $10million (Shs350m) and this factory would create jobs for the young people of Teso. My government would be able to mobilise for that funding," Dr Bwanika said.

He also promised to compensate the people of Teso who lost their cattle during the Lord's Resistance Army war to cattle rustlers and said a total of Shs540 billion will be availed for that as one way of expanding the economy.

Teso depends on cattle keeping and farming.

In his support to regional governments, Dr Bwanika said he intends to have a national urban development plan to upgrade Soroti Town to a city status to enable it become the regional headquarters for Teso with highways that would connect to other bordering countries.

He pledged to construct an international airport in Arua District as a way of attracting tourists from abroad. Turning to education, Dr Bwanika said his government would offer free education from Primary One to Advanced level and would establish a students' loan scheme.

Government has put in place a loan scheme that is apparently benefitting university students.

"There is need to completely revise the education syllabi, the one we have was set up by whites who wanted us to become clerks and yet we need think tanks with many skills," Dr Bwanika said.

He explained that his government shall be putting a lot of emphasis on skills development because skills and not only degrees make up a nation.