Governor Nyong’o pleads with Kibos not to relocate its sugar refinery Plant
Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang' Nyong'o being shown one of the products of the Paper and Packaging an affiliate of the Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries Limited-Photo By Dickson Odhiambo
By Dickson Odhiambo
December 2, 2019
Governor Nyong’o pleads with Kibos not to relocate its sugar refinery Plant
KISUMU Governor Prof Peter Anyang Nyong’o has pleaded with the
management of Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries not to relocate its sugar
refinery plant to a neighboring country.
Governor Nyong’o says the plans by the Company to relocate
the sugar refinery to a neighboring country is not a good one as it will be a
big shame if it does so.
Addressing the press after touring the factory to
familiarize himself with the kind of investment the management has put in
place, Governor Nyong’o has implored the management of the company not to
relocate its sugar refinery.
Nyong’o says the factory has employed about 5,000 people in
its various investments it has come up with in the area hence relocating it
will be a major blow to the residents of Kisumu county.
“I think it would be a big shame if this factory relocates
to another area. This is a competitive world and our neigbours are looking at
this factory and they are envious and would like to have it in their area,”
Nyong’o says.
He says that if such a factory relocate in another area then
Kisumu county will lose greatly in terms of investments.
Nyong’o says the upcoming project on special economic zone
which will be established within Miwani area is a good one and it is critical
if it finds some major investments within the area it will be situated.
“It will not be a good idea if special economic zone will be
established within Kisumu County and the already investments established there
are decamping,” Nyong’o adds.
He says such a scenario of investments decamping from Kisumu
County to other areas sends a very bad signal to both local and international
investors.
“I have been trying to persuade the management of Kibos
Sugar Company not to relocate its sugar refinery to another area but economics
is not sentiments the bottom line is shillings and cents otherwise if one is
not getting shillings and cents then however the Governor pleads you will go,”
Nyong’o adds.
A director of Kisumu Sugar and Allied Industries Limited
Raghbir singh says there have been plans to relocate the factory’s sugar
refinery plant to another country.
He says the Sugar refinery plant has never been working for
the last four year hence this has not been very good for the business.
He confirmed that the management of the company has held
talks with Kisumu Governor so as to see the way forward, adding that the
Governor has convinced them not to relocate it.
The sugar factory was commissioned in 2007, a modern 4000 TCD greenfield sugar factory at Kibos, with capacity to mill 480,000 tons sugar cane per year produced by small and large scale farmers in the former Miwani Sugar Factory zone in Miwani division and parts of the Nandi and Kisumu Counties.
The factory produces both white and brown sugar packaged and sold as Star Sugar. The byproducts of the milling process are bagasse, molasses, filter mud and fly ash.
The company is currently cogenerating 3 MW of electricity for internal use from bagasse, a waste product from sugar cane processing. KSAIL has a nucleus farm of over 5,000 ha and out-growers producing cane on approximately 100,000 ha in Nyanza, Western and parts of the Rift Valley provinces of Kenya.
It has also established Paper and Packing Factory as well as Kibos Distillery as part of diversification of the Company’s Business.
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