The Awendo- based South Nyanza (Sony) Sugar Company is set for a major maintenance operation aimed at restoring the plant’s ability to mill at full capacity.

The maintenance which is scheduled to start in mid-October to late November this year will require at least Sh.400 million for maintenance operations to boost the factory’s ability to mill cane beyond 1,500 tonnes per day.

According to the Company’s Managing Director (MD), Martin Dima, they have already started to acquire the necessary tools and spares both locally and abroad.

The plant has a capacity to crush up to 3,000 tonnes if the fatigued machine is properly maintained or replaced.

The 1979 installed machine has been working for over 45 years exposing it to wear and tear for years into fatigued.

Since Dima was appointed three months ago, there has been an improvement in the operation of the machine allowing it to crush between 1,700 to 2,200 tonnes of cane per day as compared to the previous 800 tonnes.

The Sh865 million worth semi-autonomou
s company has not had a substantive Managing Director for close to eight years, and the appointment of Dima three months ago has breathed life into the factory putting it on the right path of restoring to its lost glory.

The frequent breakdown of the plant has however reduced its effectiveness in maximizing its full potential of crashing at least 3,000 tonnes of cane per day.

The old machines have also reduced the sugar production, which under normal circumstances is one tonne of sugar per 10 tonnes of cane. This frequent breakdowns have however led to the plant crushing only 12 tonnes of cane to produce one tonne of sugar.

MD Dima has also overseen the transformation the mill’s ability to produce 1,500 tonnes of sugar weekly from the previous 700 tonnes of bagged sugar, doubling the company’s final output.

However, despite these challenges, Dima acknowledges that the company has restored farmers’ confidence by boosting operational frameworks through the efforts that been effectively put in place.

The
resolved payment delays to farmers and prompt payment to 1,500 direct employees and other 3,000 indirectly employed staff has greatly elevated the morale of farmers and the workforce.

The MD disclosed that the company has been able to reduce the five-month delay period of paying farmers to within a month which has seen an increase in cane deliveries to the factory.

‘When I was appointed a substantive Managing Director, I found a lapse of five months of non-payment to farmers. Currently, we are paying farmers that delivered their canes this August’, disclosed Dima.

Dima explains that going forward they want to reduce the payment window to within a week to further improve the economic status of the cane farmers who play a crucial role in ensuring the factory operates optimally

The revival of the Company will also require increased acreage of cane to fully utilise the company’s capacity to crash 3,000 tonnes of cane per day.

The factory has 2,400 hectares of nuclear under cane with an additional 6,000 hecta
res from contracted farmers. Dima emphasizes the need to increase cane acreage to continuously provide raw materials to the company.

Currently, Sony Sugar has more than 25,000 contracted farmers from the counties of Narok, Homabay, Kisii and Migori.

In the recent past, the majority of cane farmers in South Nyanza had to diversity their cane farming to other crops after years of disappointments over delayed payments.

While others decided to sell their cane to private millers like the Sukari Industries in Homabay and the Mara Sugar from Narok, a good number have reverted to growing other crops such maize, sweet potatoes and bamboo to get income, after uprooting sugarcane from their plots.

Dima says that the reduction of cane acreage has involuntarily made them partner with Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (Kalro) and the Sugar Research Institute to develop early maturity cane, that is resistant to weeds and which contains high sucrose to enhance the production of sugar produced by the
company.

The MD has also praised the sugar ban by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) saying that the sugar prices will go up to maximize good returns both to the company and the cane farmers.

This month, the government through the Ministry of Agriculture banned the importation of sugar into the country from countries outside the East African Community (EAC) and Comesa.

Under the new management and guidance of Dima, the company has also been able to review and audit cases against the company by farmers and service providers.

Dima noted that the Company has been able to review and resolve cases that stood at 3,500 downwards to 1,700.

Dima stresses that some of the cases audited were non-existent while others were forgery. He said that it was improper for the company to pay for services that were not consumed by the organisation.

Sony Sugar has also become the first state miller corporation to be approved on its Human resources policy tools by the State Cooperation Advisor
y Committee. The human resource tools will help the miller improve, cure human resource challenges as well as motivate a spirited team to occupy permanent positions and promotions in the company.

Source: Kenya News Agency