Obsolete parts, less power forces Mumias Sugar Company to close

Kenyans will go without sugar and other products from Mumias Sugar Company following the management’s decision to  temporarily close the factory for maintenance.

Out-going Managing Director Coutts Otolo said the factory has been shut down due to worn out machines and inadequate power which have affected its optimal operations.

“We have decided to close the factory on a temporary basis so that we can carry out maintenance services. The factory has been performing poorly. The last time thorough maintenance of the machine was done in 2013,” said Otolo.

The factory will reopen late next month. Mr Otolo said they sold all the sugar produced earlier. “Our sugar will not be on the shelves for all this period. We do not have any stocks in our warehouse. We have sold all the sugar we had processed earlier. Consumers and other businesspeople will have to bear with us,” he said.

The factory has failed to perform to its optimal capacity as it has been crushing 2,000 tonnes of cane daily instead of the 7,000 tonnes.

This is attributed to inadequate electricity as Kenya Power has disconnected its electricity supply to the company.

The factory has been unable to crush enough cane to produce its own bagasse that generates power for internal use. This has forced it to rely on generators that are unable to supply adequate power to the entire factory, causing poor performance.

Processing unit

One of the engineers in the processing unit who sought anonymity said the factory faces many challenges as it lacks spare parts yet nearly all the machines are worn out.

He said the factory’s diffuser and processor are in bad shape, leading to leakage on the juice meant for producing sugar. “The factory does not have enough power to run its operations. The problem starts in the diffuser and the processor and due to lack of enough power, the machines are not able to crush to the cane to their optimal capacity,” said the engineer.

“The juice in the process house leaks as waste after overflowing in the processor, which cannot hold it for long because it is worn out. The factory is also losing a lot of juice to leakages and worn out machines.”

“Due to lack of enough power, the factory is unable to crush enough cane to produce bagasse, which we have been relying on to generate electricity for internal use,” he noted. He said most turbines, pipes and pumps are worn out yet the management has not procured spare parts that could correct the situation to avoid spillage and breakages of some machine parts.

The engineer explained that though some parts of the machines are supposed to be checked and be maintained after two days, this has not been happening, forcing them stretch beyond four days.

“Even if you open the turbines or pumps to correct the leakage where will you get the valves and other spare parts yet the company does not have them?” he paused.