PDM: Dokolo residents tipped on enterprise selection
New Vision Journalist
Journalist @New Vision
____________________ A group of people waiting to be cleared One of the locals being cleared Beneficiaries beimg cleared Ladies celebrating
Bata sub-county residents in the Dokolo district have been urged to prioritise the right enterprise selection if they are to fully benefit from the Parish Development Model (PDM) programme.
Special presidential assistant on political affairs Owiny Alfred Thopacu made the call on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, during a meeting that was convened at Atabu Primary School in Bata that brought together over 635 PDM beneficiaries to assess its progress.
There are six parishes in Bata: Atabu, Barlela, Ocero, Alapata, Bardege, and Apenyo and 71 PDM SACCOs are spread across these parishes.
Owiny also urged the residents to embrace PDM because the interest rate is as low as 10%, only payable after two years: “Nobody should come to you to ask for money when the two years have not elapsed because the President has given you a grace period of two years”.
He reminded the residents that the money is a revolving fund and is paid back for other parish residents to benefit through borrowing it.
Monitoring
Dokolo Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Barbara Akech pointed out that the program is being monitored aggressively to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated.
“The experiences we have shared today are good because the beneficiaries were able to speak freely, the amount of money they got and how it was spent, their enterprise selection, and how much they invested,” she said.
Akech added that such experiences will also help subsequent PDM beneficiaries in enterprise selection.
Commenting on the challenges at the onset of the implementation of the PDM programme, she said it was discovered that the chairpersons of the PDM SACCOS did not follow the recommended guidelines and they were giving funds to only their relatives and friends.
“We recovered all the money that was deducted and also the money that was given to the unqualified people and gave it back to the rightful beneficiaries. We made them pay [back] the money and we recovered about shillings 15 million,” Akech added.
She, however, vowed that in the next phase of PDM resource disbursement, the mistakes of the past will not be repeated.
She urged the people of Bata to appreciate the kind gesture the NRM government, under the stewardship of President Yoweri Museveni, has extended to them by embracing PDM and also for them to reciprocate accordingly.
The residents expressed their profound appreciation to President Museveni for initiating PDM which has positively impacted their lives.
The appreciation was extended by the Atabu village LC1 chairperson Okwara Geoffrey while welcoming guests to the area.
The meeting was also attended by the Dokolo district local government and senior security officials.
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