MOROTO – The ministry of minerals has impounded over 80 Lories for transporting raw minerals out of Moroto district without documents.
The trucks were impounded on Monday by Karamoja regional Minerals inspector Mr. Gerald Eneku and the Mineral protection unit.
Eneku told the media that the ministry of minerals together with the police mineral protection unit had made several sensitizations including encouraging companies to get licenses from the ministry of mineral which most of them declined.
According to Eneku, all the impounded trucks had no single document from the ministry of minerals that allowed them to transport minerals.
He said there has been illegal transportation of marble and limestone from Moroto district to Jinja and Kapeka factories causing government and Karamoja districts to lose billions of shillings.
He said in one day more than 100 vehicles transport minerals from Moroto taking it to Tororo cement and other companies in Kampala.
“When you look at all these trucks, they don’t have any single movement document from the ministry of minerals, and we have been sensitizing them but they paid deaf ears,” he said.
Eneku said there has been hide and seek in payment of royalties whereby the transporters claim it’s the factory owners who are supposed to pay the royalty while the factory owners also claim it’s the suppliers to pay the royalties adding that this contravenes section 3 and 4 of the mining act 2003.
