by John Tugume, Zhang Gaiping
KAMPALA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- As Uganda gets ready for its initial commercial production of oil from the Albertine region, a Chinese company is training Ugandans to obtain the required welding skills.
Before the oil production begins, Uganda is expected to construct a pipeline from Hoima, a municipal town in western Uganda, to Tanga in Tanzania, spanning a distance of 1,445 kilometers.
Independent sources say about 1,500 welders will be required to work on the pipeline that will have a capacity of 216,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Uganda hopes to see its maiden commercial oil production while Sunmaker Energy (Uganda) Ltd, a Chinese company, is helping to set the welding ball rolling.
Sunmaker has set up a 3-acre oil and gas training institute in the central business district of Uganda's capital, Kampala. The institute is expected to start accepting students next month.
Gong Zhiwu, deputy executive director of Sunmaker, said once the school opens, they expect to train more than 4,000 people every year in different disciplines.P "We shall offer short courses for oil and gas operators already in the field. We shall also have courses for new entrants," he said.
The institute will also admit regional students from surrounding countries and internationally recognized certificates will be awarded.
The information of the graduates will also be entered into a database for quick reference purposes by the institute.
Before Sunmaker opens the institute, it has been offering training to employees of Victoria Engineering.
Samuel Nabwiso, 31, has been working for Victoria Engineering over the past five years.
"Since a welding expert came from Sunmaker, we have really had our skills improved. Personally, I have learnt new skills of welding pipes and plates and I am sure these will be used to transport oil from Hoima to where it is going to be refined from," Nabwiso told Xinhua on Wednesday.
Jalaludin Lugumya, 25, is also grateful for the training.
"I am an employee of Victoria Engineering but the training by the new instructor from China is wonderful. We have been taught to fit pipes and plates properly so that after the welding is done, they will be put to the desired shapes without any buckling," Lugumya said.
"They have also taught us about horizontal welding, something we did not know previously," he added.
Ni Laixing, an internationally certified welder from Sunmaker, said after training the students for 50 working days, they will be able to pass international examinations for welders.
"We are currently teaching them carbon dioxide welding. This is the basis of all types of welding and once they have mastered it, the rest will be easier to learn," he said.
The skills will be used in the manufacturing of products to be used in the oil and gas sector, Ni added.
Lydia Efata, the business development manager at Victoria Engineering, is full of praise for what their employees have learnt.
"The welders are being taught coded welding as opposed to ordinary welding. The difference between the two welding processes is simply that the coded welding is basically certified welding," she said.
"Our welders had last been trained and certified in 2014 and there was a need for upskilling and re-certification," Efata added.
However, Efata said that there is still a gap between demand and supply in the Ugandan labor market.
The government is taking steps to encourage young people to apply for the required training courses to beef up the number and comply with the requirement of the oil boom, she told Xinhua Wednesday.
