Approve sugar factory permit, sacco tells Nema

Farmers in Yala are piling pressure on the National Environment Management Authority to approve the construction of a sugar factory at Dominion Farms.

The Chairman of Lake Kanyaboli Multipurpose Co-op Society, Mr Charles Ayieke Odengo, said the stalemate between politicians and farm owners was affecting their operations.

The farmers, mostly outgrowers contracted by Dominion, say a sugar mill would improve their livelihoods.

Mr Odengo said farmers had waited for long for Nema secretariat to respond to the findings of a public hearing conducted in September.

“It is time the dispute between the leaders and Dominion Farms ended. Nema should give the farm permission to set up a factory at the swamp.

We wonder why they are taking long to make public the findings?” Mr Odengo said yesterday.

He said farmers had secured tractors after liaising with the governor’s office and were only waiting for seeds.

Mr Odengo added that farmers signed an MoU with Dominion that would see them sell mature cane to the farm for milling, thus creating more than 300 jobs.

“We are sure the farm will be a market for our cane. This will also reduce the price of sugar,” he said.

He was accompanied by sacco secretary George Okello Obambo and treasurer Rosemary Atieno Ngesa.

“Those leaders opposed to the project are enemies of development as their actions are only chasing away investors,” Mrs Ngesa said.

According to Dominion Manager Chris Abir, the farm has allocated 200 acres for a sugarcane plantation, which is known as the nuclear.

Mr Abir told the Nation that outgrowers had also been contracted to help sustain the factory when it begins operating.

He added that the farm was yet to receive approval of Kenya Sugar Board directorate after it filed for an application to set up the factory in 2013.

“We hope the Sugar board will approve our request and ensure that Dominion Farms implements the project as a way of improving the social welfare of residents,” Mr Abir said.