Gulu District Fishery Officer Emmanuel Omara Pacoto points to some of the hatchery containers lying idle at the Fry Center in Gulu City. PhotoS By Brian Komakech
By Brian Komakech
Gulu: About 4 km outside Gulu City Center lies Gulu Aquaculture Research and Development Center formerly known as Laliya Fry Center, a multi-billion government facility meant for the production of fish fingerlings.
At the facility’s main entrance located in Iriaga cell, Iriaga Parish in Pece-Laroo Division, Gulu City, three young boys go about their game as I gain access to the compound of the research center for a visit.
The visibly overgrown grasses at what should have been fishing ponds, stained hatchery tanks, and broken security light posts at the facility paint a picture of an abandoned place.
Gulu Aquaculture Research and Development Center is among four regional hatchery centers the government started establishing in 2007 to promote fish farming in the Acholi Sub-region.
In 2007, the government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) secured 1.8 billion shillings in funding from the African Development Bank (ADB) to renovate the fish fry formerly in Gulu Municipality.
The government signed a contract with GQ Investments Ltd on December 11 under procurement reference number 0157/WRKS/FDP/06-07-Lot III to carry out rehabilitation works for a contract period of one year. The contractor was meant to establish a hatchery block unit, an administration block, a store, a powerhouse, two water reservoirs, a borehole, and 22 fish production ponds.
Other facilities to be rehabilitated included four nursery fish ponds, a staff house, and a perimeter chain link fence covering the 15.3 acres of the land area all at a contract cost of shs 1.8bn.
Emmanuel Omara Pacoto, the Gulu District Fisheries Officer told GNNA in an interview that while they were optimistic the renovation of the facility would boost fish farming, their hopes were dashed a few months later when the contractor abandoned the project site.
According to Omara, the works were abandoned in 2008 at just 80 percent before completion and the contractor didn’t give any explanation to Gulu District Local government officials.
“Our role as the district was only to monitor the progress of the project since all the procurement was centrally undertaken,” said Omara.
Omara explained that the district made several attempts to follow up with the Ministry of Agriculture in vain.
Information GNNA obtained indicates that nearly seven years after the first contractor pulled out of the project site, the government contracted another contractor, KOL Services Ltd in May 2015.
Omara, however, noted that the second contractor after just two months of work equally left the site without any explanation.
Efforts to get comments from the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries about the contractors abandoning the project site over the years were futile.
Partnership arrangement
Nearly 12 years after the fry center was left lying dormant and dilapidated, Gulu District officials conceived the idea of venturing into a private partnership to renew the operation of the aquaculture center.
After consultations with officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Public-Private Partnerships Unit (PPPU), Gulu District Local Government secured a letter of no objection to partner with Agromax Uganda Ltd.
On June 29, 2020, Agromax Ug Ltd and Gulu District Local government finally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to operationalize the Laliya Fish Fry Centre. Under the MoU, Agromax would commit to allocating financing to operate the facility which had been dormant and dilapidated for over 12 years.
Agromax also entered and executed an MoU with Gulu University, which among other things provided for a collaborative framework under which both parties are to utilize the facility for skills development and technical training programs.
Copies of the MoU seen by GNNA also indicate that Agromax agreed to take up the facility on a leasehold basis for an initial period of 22 years inclusive of a grace period of two years.
According to Omara, the MOU also clearly stipulated that Gulu District Local Government shall give Agromax Ug Ltd a grace period of two years before they would commence payment of annual rent effective from the date of signing the lease offer.
Annually, Agromax Ug Ltd is supposed to remit 25 million shillings to Gulu District Local Government for renting the facility.
Hurdles in acquiring freehold title
At the time of signing the MoU, GNNA understood that both parties agreed Agromax would support the process of acquiring a freehold title offer for the 15.3-acre piece of land the facility occupies in the name of Gulu District Local Government which would then later be transferred to Agromax Ug Ltd. The process, however, later dragged on for four years.
Rony Oved, the Managing Director of Agromax Uganda Ltd told this publication in an interview the firm engaged the Gulu district land board earlier in 2021 to process the freehold title for the premises.
He, however, said they were informed that due to the backlog of files, it would take months to process the title.
“Upon inquiring how we could expedite the process since the project was dormant and stalling. We were informed that the facilitation of a sum that we considered unreasonable was needed, leading us to withdraw the file,” Oved told GNNA.
The agribusiness firm would later resubmit the same file in September 2021 for processing of the title.
According to Oved, after long and unnecessary delays, the freehold title was finally issued in the name of the district in November 2021.
Tedious leasehold process
After the acquisition of the freehold title, Agromax went on to the next step of processing a lease registration on the title.
Oved noted that on two separate occasions, generated stamp duty assessments were rejected by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). Stamp Duty is an amount of money (duty) payable on every document that confers any right or liability upon being created, transferred, limited, extended, extinguished, or recorded according to URA data.
According to information GNNA obtained, a proper assessment of the duty stamp was generated in May 2023 and a lease was later fully processed by the lands office at Gulu City in May 2023.
On February 28, 2024, an official title handover meeting was held between the Gulu District Local Government team and Agromax whereupon the leasehold title for the land located on Plot M.33A Palaro Close in Iriaga East was officially released to Agromax Ug Ltd.
Financial loss and constraint
Agromax Ug Ltd officials however noted that as a result of the unnecessary delays, the intended fisheries project lost investment opportunities and time within which social benefit could have accrued.
According to Oved, no partner would have been willing to invest in a project whose land ownership and rights status was unclear at the time.
He said as a result of the delay, Agromax resolved to allocate its funds to other enterprises as it would be financially irresponsible and unreasonable to hold finances for that period.
Currently, Agromax officials say they are organizing financial allocation for the project since the paperwork has been acquired and the resources and infrastructure audit will soon be concluded.
Vandalized structures
Officials at Agromax also revealed the firm is conducting a resources and infrastructure audit focused on structural needs assessment since, during the time of delay, some equipment at the facility was either vandalized or stolen.
Among the structures vandalized at the facility are the perimeter fence, electric lighting posts, doors to administration and hatchery doors, and plumbing pipes.
“The resource and infrastructure audit will help us assess the level of capital investment compared to when we last assessed the acquisition of the titles,” said Oved.
Boost in fish production in Acholi
The district fisheries department is hopeful fish farming will be boosted in the Acholi Sub-region, with Agromax Ug Ltd expected to start refurbishing the Aquaculture center in June this year.
Omara, the Gulu District Fisheries Officer, revealed that once completed, the facility could produce 2 million fingerlings in one production cycle. A production cycle takes three months according to Omara, implying the facility in about a year can produce eight million fingerlings.
At the facility, Agromax will breed Tilapia, and catfish with plans to introduce the exotic mirror carp fish which will be sold at a fairly subsidized rate.
“The facility will address the challenges of inadequate fish fingerlings in the sub-region,” said Omara.
Statistics from Gulu District Fisheries Department indicate there are about 400 fish ponds throughout the Gulu District and over 2,000 in the entire Acholi Sub-region.
Fish farmer speaks out
Eric Lajul, a fish farmer also the Chairperson of Fish farmers for Gulu District and Gulu City, said the delay in operationalizing the center frustrated many fish farmers who had hoped to buy fingerlings and fish feeds cheaply.
Lajul owns 11 fish ponds in Bardege-Layibi Division and started the business in 2017 dealing in tilapia, Mirror carp, and catfish.
He noted that the fish market is promising in the Acholi Sub-region, but the inadequate fish stock among farmers due to limited functional hatcheries complicates the business.
“Our biggest challenge as fish farmers has been getting fingerlings and fish feeds at affordable rates. We incur very high costs in transporting fingerlings to this region,” he said.
On the local market, a kilogram of fish feed costs shs 5,500 while each fingerling costs shs 1,000, and is mainly transported by fish farmers from Wakiso District and Entebbe city. Within Gulu City, a Kilogram of fish costs shs 16,000.
Lajul, however, called on the Gulu District local government and Agromax Ug Ltd officials to consider subsidizing the prices of fingerlings and feeds to support fish farming in the sub-region.
Utility
Fish is a great contributor to food security, household incomes, livelihoods of the people 2.5% of the population, and foreign exchange earnings.
The fisheries subsector is estimated to contribute 12% to the Agricultural GDP and 2.5% to the National Gross Domestic Product, according to the 2021 Report on Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill.
