Webuye MP applauds the progress of the revived Pan Paper Mills

Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-11-04 17:56:00 Read 257 Times

Member of Parliament for webuye Mr.Afred Sambu and production manager of Panpaper Mills Mr.Lawrence Situma checking out the produced paper.[Photo/ Rosemary Wachiye] Just a week after the revival of the Pan Paper factory, the Member of Parliament for Webuye Mr. Alfred Sambu has paid a courtesy call to the factory to ascertain its current working state. The Pan Paper factory started production on Saturday October 22nd 2011 after a closure of more than 2 years after its first re-opening in 2010 on July 28 by President Kibaki that was not sustained and grounded to a halt after two weeks when three of the mills closed down. The closure of Pan Paper left more than 400 employees jobless, employees who now can manage a smile after being recalled back to the mill and the start of paper production. The current Pan Paper revival task force led by Team leader Dr.Wafula Muliaro, have in a period of 2 months managed to restart the mill. Mr.Sambu in his tour around the mill commended the efforts put in place by the task force and pledged to cooperate with them to ensure the continuous running of the mill. “Since the factory has started working again which has been a result a long struggle, I wish to thank all those behind its revival and want to state that the factory should not close down again, we will do everything in our capacity to ensure that the running is continuous,” said Mr.Sambu.  He called upon the management of the factory to recall back all the former workers of the mill and even employ more to create jobs for a big percentage of the jobless youths in Webuye. “All the former workers of this factory should be recalled back to work, unless for those who in its closure got work elsewhere or died otherwise for those still in need of work, they should be given first priority when employing staffs,” said Mr.Sambu. While addressing the Pan Paper workers, Mr.Sambu promised to look into the issue of procurement of raw materials for the factory which he says has been a big letdown in revival of the mill. “I will ensure that the procurement of the needed raw materials for the mill is done in an orderly manner, in right quantity and at the right time,” said Mr.Sambu.  “The closure of Pan Paper can also in a way be seen as a good opportunity for the Africans who used to work in the mill under the Indians and never got recognized for their work to now prove that they can run the mill without the help of the Asians,” said  Dr. Muliaro.  “I urge those leaders who like commenting negatively on the factory, to please shun from doing so and instead join hands with us through factual comments as mere negative political comments would take us steps back in the revival of this factory,” added Dr. Muliaro. Speaking at the same forum, one of the workers of the mill who have been recalled back to work, Mr.Situma, has called upon the government to ensure that all the required materials for paper production reach the factory on time and in enough quantity to sustain the running of the mill. “We are happy to have been recalled back to work after a long wait but we don’t anticipate that the factory will close at any time, but for this not to happen the government must ensure that all the procurement processes are done on time and all the required raw materials available to sustain continuous running of the mill,” said Mr.Situma. Earlier in the October during the prayer day for the revival of the mill, Mr.Sambu blamed the Industrialization Permanent Secretary Mr.Kibichu Karanja for being the reason for the stall of the mill. He was also quoted blaming the industrialization PS for not taking stern action against the previous task force headed by Mr. John Munguti after stealing Sh.56 Million meant for revival of the factory, but what a turn of events, in his tour in the factory, Mr.Sambu was heard appraising Mr.Kibichu’s choice of team leader. Mr.Sambu also added that the government should set up an independent audit team to check in to the accounts of the task force alleged to have stolen money from the factory to ascertain the real truth.