The Mumias Sugar Company shut down its factories more than two months ago. PHOTO | FILE
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Mumias Sugar Company finalised trial tests on its milling machines Thursday, paving the way for normal operations to resume.
The factory operations manager, Josephat Asira, said they had delayed re-opening by about one week to replace worn-out machine parts that were spotted during the annual plant maintenance.
Kenya’s largest sugar miller, Mumias, plans to reopen its factory next week after it closed two months ago for maintenance.
Mumias Sugar Company finalised trial tests on its milling machines Thursday, paving the way for normal operations to resume.
The factory operations manager, Josephat Asira, said they had delayed re-opening by about one week to replace worn-out machine parts that were spotted during the annual plant maintenance.
“The maintenance process went on smoothly and we addressed most of the engineering challenges that have in the past compromised our efforts to do maximum recoveries,” Mr Asira said.
Earlier, the company’s board chairman, Dan Ameyo, had said delayed reopening of the miller was partly caused by lack of ready crop for harvesting, arguing that the additional weeks would give the sugarcane time to mature.
Mumias plans to reopen at a time when a number of local millers say they are stuck with sugar at factories as cheap imports flood the market.
The miller has a crushing capacity of 8,000 tonnes of cane per day which translates to at least 800 tonnes of sugar daily.
Mr Asira, however, said the miller expects to begin producing at least 6,500 tonnes per day, improving gradually to 7,000 tonnes.
“The fact that we expect increased raw material supplies by between 10 to 20 per cent, we anticipate steady production although there are many expectations from stakeholders who look upon us to meet the demand of sugar in the market,” he said.
On Thursday, Mr Asira said the Agriculture department had assured the management of sufficient raw material.
The issue of sugarcane scarcity remains a major challenge amid cane poaching and tendency by some farmers to abandon cane production altogether.
Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali and his Mumias West counterpart Johnson Naicca had earlier called upon farmers to remain patient and stop uprooting sugarcane.
“We must remain focused since the government is keen or reviving Mumias Sugar and recovering our money stolen by former managers,” Mr Washiali told residents at Lusheya Trading Centre.
The lawmaker, however, called on the government to deal with the sugar smuggling menace, claiming that local sugar barons had shifted base to Uganda and Tanzania where they continue with the illegal business of exporting cheap sugar into the country at the expense of the domestic sugar sector.
On Thursay, Mr Asira said Mumias Sugar and Kenya Power would soon conclude a pact on power export and consumption by the milling firm.
“There are a lot of positive signs that issue will come to conclusion,” he said. Mr Ameyo had earlier indicated that the miller was keen on having the contractual obligations and agreements initially signed between Kenya Power and Mumias Sugar be reviewed.
The electricity firm has disconnected power at Mumias Sugar several times, causing major operations hitches.
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