PanPaper mills at Webuye ready for reopening in November

The closed Pan Paper mills will be reopened next month. According to industrialisation Permanent secretary Karanja Kibicho, the government is ready to clear debts owed to short term lenders to pave way for new management to take over. PanPaper went under as a result of unpaid power bills and bank loans, with the short-term lenders, Barclays Bank, KCB, Bank of Baroda and Eco Bank appointing a joint receiver to manage the factory. Mr Kibicho was speaking after holding a meeting with the Bungoma East District Development Committee led by Webuye MP John Sambu and the Webuye District Commissioner, Mr Adan Gedow. read on: http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/PanPaper+ready+for+reopening+/-/1006/1247384/-/1s02bmz/-/index.html

Alternatives for Webuye Panpaper mills under the new governance structure
Truly, the plant sustained the livelihood of over 80,000 residents of the town and beyond thus it was a dream come true with the president expressing the government’s commitment to supporting the factory resume full operation. The Pan Paper Mills was closed on February 18, 2009, after the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) disconnected electricity over a Sh100 million power bill.
More than 4,000 workers lost their jobs and Webuye town began sliding back to poverty. Past management indicated since 1997, the performance had deteriorated due to various external factors, among them high energy prices. read on: http://www.westfm.co.ke/wordpress/?p=11

Field Report: Pan African Paper- Webuye, Kenya September 22, 2007 Pan African Paper operates a paper mill and forestry operation in Western Kenya in the town of Webuye, near the Uganda border. The industry began in the mid 1970’s as a project of the Kenyan government with support and financing of the World Bank. Orient Paper Mills, part of the Birhla group from India, bought major shareholdings in the operation. Despite the promise of international investor potential to invest in the improvement and updating of the mill, pollution and damage to the community and the local environment has increased. read on: http://www.gcmonitor.org/article.php?id=658 About Webuye town View Larger Map Webuye is an industrial town in Bungoma District in the Western Province of Kenya. The predominant tribe is the Bukusu tribe. The Bukusu are one of the seventeen Kenyan tribes of the Luhya Bantu people of East Africa. They are the largest tribe of the Luhya nation, making up about 17% of the Luhya population. Located on the main road to Uganda, the town is home to the Pan African Paper Mills, the largest paper factory in the region, as well as a number of heavy-chemical and sugar manufacturers. It has a tropical climate, and the heavily populated land around it is used mainly for subsistence agriculture. The town has an urban population of 25,000 approx. Webuye is home to Broderick Falls of the river Nzoia.  source: http://en.wikipedia.org   Broderick Falls