Water scarcity blow to Bakhresa phase II sugar making expansion plans

Bagamoyo. Bakhresa Group’s Bagamoyo Sugar Limited plans to swiftly extend its sugar production into the second phase could hit a brick wall as the face now contends with a water accessibility challenge.

Bakhresa Group incorporated its sugar subsidiary in December 2016 with sugarcane plantation at nucleus estate and produce sugar at Makurunge, Bagamoyo District.

The project’s first phase - which was constructed at a total of $110 million – is on and running and is producing between 30,000 tonnes and 35,000 tonnes of sugar annually, Said Salim Bakhresa (SSB) Group’s corporate affairs director Hussein Sufian.

The second phase, which would involve expanding sugarcane plantations, starting with 2,000 hectares, was meant to start soon after completion of the first phase but Mr Sufiani told journalists who visited the project area in Bagamoyo yesterday that water availability was a serious challenge.

Between 40,000 and 80,000 tonnes of sugar would be added to the company’s production capacity upon completion of the second phase.

“We have completed the construction of the first phase of the project and sugar production is on but our projected start of the second phase will depend on accessibility of water,” he said.

Mr Sufiani said with sugarcane farming at Makurunge being largely dependent on water from Wami River, it becomes extremely difficult to proceed at a time when there was a scarcity of the vital resource close to the project site.

“We are making all efforts to ensure there is accessibility of water. Currently, our experts are conducting research to see how to get enough water though, at the moment, our mitigation is to construct dams,” he said.

A plan to drill boreholes has proved to be not a worthwhile one because they only managed to reach salty water underground.

Salty water is not ideal for sugarcane farming because it could affect the quality of the sugar produced.

The main objective of the project is not only reducing dependence on sugar imports and attaining self-sufficiency, but also producing surplus sugar for export.

The company has since designed an irrigation system to irrigate 1,200 hectares per day using its automated deep irrigation system.

The executive director for SSB Group, Mr Abubakar Said Salim Bakhresa, said so far the first phase of the project has created up to 1,200 jobs.

Earlier company estimates had it that a total of Sh670 billion would be spent on the three phases of the project.

Tanzania Sugar Board figures put Tanzania’s production of the sweetener at around 380,000 tonnes a year against the 440,000 tonnes demand.