PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has ordered the start of the construction of the new Mkulazi II factory in Ngerengere District, Morogoro Region so that the nation has enough sugar throughout the year.

Inaugurating the Mkulazi I factory costing 340bn/-, jointly owned by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the Prisons Service in the region, she said that on completion of Mkulazi I factory will produce 50,000 tonnes per year, curbing current supply difficulties.

The president asked the factory owners to manage the firm in line with procedures and regulations to ensure sustainability, explaining that heavy rains from January to April impeded sugar production.

In some areas the price of sugar increased to 8,000/- per kilo, which the average Tanzanian could not afford, she said, underlining that as a public institutions facility the government will find the money for it to increase capacity from 50,000 tonnes to 75,000 tonnes per year.

Samia said that the construction of the Mkulazi II factory has already cost a total of 2.6bn/-, asking investors to cooperate with the government to invest, hailing   the two public institutions for deciding to invest in this sugar factory project.

She emphasised on the need to make that investment sustainable as public sector projects get inadequate attention, such that many state industries collapsed three decades ago.

Dr Hildelitha Msita, the Mkulazi Holding Co. Ltd (MHCL) board chairman, had earlier asked the president to increase the financial strength of the project so that its production reaches 75,000 tonnes per year. 

The factory has been built with advanced technology, and the company has plans to expand the scope of products from sugarcane. To begin with, the firm is producing ethanol which can be used as raw material for making medicines.

Ridhiwani Kikwete, the Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disability state minister in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the construction of the factory has gone a long way to curb unemployment for young people, with 2,176 direct jobs and more than 7,000 occasional job openings.

 Up to 92 percent of those taking up the jobs are younger people under the age of 45, while Agriculture minister Hussein Bashe promised sugarcane farmers with money held up by the company and those with loans from Azania Bank that the issues are being handled by the government.

Salome Mbilinyi, chairperson of the Mbigiri Sugarcane Out growers Union appreciated government efforts in the project, appealing that the challenges they face be resolved as promised in pronouncements of various cabinet ministers.