Members of Parliament on the committee of Physical Infrastructure have opposed a government plan to allocate Shs7.2b for compensating squatters on the Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) land.
The committee chairperson, Mr David Karubanga, said the squatters settled on the land illegally and so they don’t deserve compensation.
“It will be unfortunate if the government goes ahead with the compensation. These are squatters who illegally encroached on the railway line and compensating them will amount to corruption,”Mr Karubanga said.
The committee was at the weekend in the eastern region to assess the progress of the rehabilitation of the 375Km Tororo-Gulu line which is being undertaken by Sogea Satom/ETF [JV].
Mr Karubanga said the government and other stakeholders, including politicians, should urge people to vacate the land voluntarily to pave way for speedy renovation of the railway line.
The rehabilitation works will ensure operations resume after nearly 27 years due to insecurity in northern Uganda and stiff competition from road freight.
