Kioo Ltd wants L. Natron soda ash extraction to start soon

The government has been requested to start extracting soda ash in Lake Natron to make Tanzania`s industries cut-down production costs.

The appeal was made over the weekend by Kioo Ltd personnel manager Mohamed Remtulla when the Parliamentary Committee for Social Development paid a visit to the firm.

Remtulla requested the committee to advise the government to speed-up implementation by commencing soda ash extraction work as soon as possible.

`Soda ash is one of the most potential raw materials for making bottles,` Remtulla told the committee during the visit in Dar es Salaam over the weekend.

He said his company was currently using part of the raw materials available in and others from outside the country.

`It is more expensive to import raw materials rather than having all the resources from within the country,`
Remtulla told the committee led by its vice chairperson, Haroub Said Masoud who is also the CCM legislator for Koani constituency in the Isles.

He said extracting soda ash from Lake Natron will help his firm use 100 per cent of the raw materials from within the country.

`This will cut to minimum level the costs of production of our products,` he noted.

He said apart from soda ashes currently imported from Kenya, his factory uses sand and other minerals also available in the country.

He said extracting ash from Lake Natron will enable the factory to increase production.

Remtulla said the factory also uses broken bottles which are collected across Dar es Salaam and sold to the factory by people.

`This activity helps people in the city to earn more income that uplifts their livelihoods and improves the city`s environment,` he said.

Remtulla told the committee that the factory produces 40,000 tonnes of bottles annually that meet the country`s market demand.

`Tanzania Breweries Ltd, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, medical manufacturers and food processing industries are among our top clients in the country,` he said, adding that the firm sells its products to South Africa, DRC, Djibouti, and Angola. We also sell them to Ghana, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Mauritius and Comoro.

However, the manager cited power rationing as one of the firm�s challenges that negatively affects production.
`The price for gas and petroleum is very high leading to high production costs, `he said.

For his part, MP Masoud lauded the factory`s initiatives that have made it among the big employers in the country.
`I commend you for being at the forefront in observing labour and safety laws at working places,` he said.

�Our goal was to visit the factory and to see your operations and we�re pleased with the safety measures you are taking,� MP Masoud concluded.