Chemelil appeals to farmers to supply cane
By Kepher Otieno, March 3, 2023Chemelil Sugar Company has appealed to farmers to resume cane deliveries to the firm to avoid plunging the miller into immi-nent production halt. The plea comes in the wake of an acute shortage of cane supplies to the factory, which has now forced it to assemble fresh sugarcane daily.
It has been forced to accumulate cane for at least three days to be able to mill sufficiently.
Terming the shortage as a serious crisis that could stall the factory’s operation, the management yesterday called for an urgent meeting with stakeholders. The meeting brought together farmers, contractors, and transporters to strike an agreement to work to-gether.
Chemelil Sugar Factory Manager Joseph Kiilu, assured the suppliers including transporters that they will make prompt payment of their dues in good time. “We want to assure you that when we mill cane, we shall continue to pay you in good time to avoid protests and withdrawal of key supply services to us,’’ he said.
Cane transporters
Kiilu they released payment of Sh93.7 million to cane farmers lasr week being the outstanding arrears for this year as at Febru-ary, adding that each week, they will struggle to offset similar payments to clear the backlog.
He said Sh124 million was the balance remaining of the old debts in which the State had paid Sh106 million directly to the farmers last year. “The farmers now want the balance of Sh124 million paid to them,” he added. Kiilu spoke as cane transporters decried delayed payments, giving it as the reason they had to withdraw their tractors from hauling cane to the factory a fortnight ago.
The transporters led by Onyango Ogwang said they had reached an agreement with the miller that they be paid two weeks after service to avoid stalling the firm’s milling, adding currently the Chemelil transport fleet is seriously affected.
He said the firm currently has only three tractors to serve its over 500,00 contracted cane farmers in Muhoroni and parts of Nyando sugar belt, adding that most of the tractors are either obsolete or broken down due to lack of maintenance. The miller has to rely on external transport services to bring raw materials to the factory.
The factory is also operating below its installed milling capacity, which Kiilu admitted had drastically dropped further in the last three months.