Ethanol distillery company PressCane Limited has announced plans to partner Chikwawa District Council to intensify the cleanup campaign in the district.

Speaking on Friday during a clean-up exercise around Chikwawa Main Market and the district hospital premises, PressCane chief human resources and administration officer Francis Mndolo said a clean environment was crucial for people’s health.

“Most of our employees come from the district. So, it is important for them to stay in a clean environment if they are to be healthy and productive,” he said.

PressCane officials hand over equipment to Chikwawa Council officials

On her part, Chikwawa district environmental officer Elina Mkandawire said the council lacks resources to implement the cleanup campaign.

“We commend PressCane for their support. We appeal to other well-wishers to support the council implement the exercise,” she said.

In his remarks, Chikwawa North legislator Owen Chomanika (Democratic Progressive Party) said he will sensitise his constituents to the need to clean their surroundings.

James Malinga, a resident who took part in the exercise, asked people in the district to avoid littering public places.

During the event, PressCane donated wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels, brooms, brushes and buckets to the district council.

President Lazarus Chakwera launched the cleanup campaign last year and dedicated second Friday of the month  for the exercise.

Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe has pledged government support towards a project by PressCane Limited to be producing ethanol straight from sugarcane juice.

Lowe spoke at the weekend when he toured Chisanja Farm Limited, an existing sugarcane farm being run by smallholder farmers in Chikwawa and Dambo-Bwana Scheme where he saw land earmarked for a new sugarcane farm which will be supplying sugarcane to PressCane Limited for ethanol production.

"I am happy that the ethanol being produced here is not enough, which means there is an opportunity for our smallholder sugarcane farmers to make money.

"We are going to support the farmers through the Agriculture Commercialization project (AgCom) because our farmers have a ready market for their sugarcane," said Lowe.

He said he was impressed with the new technologies of growing the sugarcane using the irrigation system saying the Chikwawa project will act as a learning base.

"I am pleased that apart from the ethanol which PressCane will produce for blending with imported petrol, the company will also produce high quality hand sanitisers as value added products of ethanol as well as fertiliser and electricity from waste products of the ethanol production process.

"There are 3,500 farming families that we are working with and the first phase will be on the Dambo-Bwana's 1069 hectares of land where 90% of it will be for sugarcane while the remaining 10% will be for food and other high value crops. We are asking for support to implement this first phase since we already have a ready market for our sugarcane at PressCane," said Mtalika.

PressCane Chief Executive Officer Dr. Christopher Guta said the sugarcane mill which would be required to process the sugarcane will cost the company about $13 million but it is waiting for the assurance of the availability of feedstock from sugarcane farmers and approval by the company's Board.

"There is potential for the sugarcane farmers to secure their livelihoods if they are supported to be producing enough feedstock for the milling plant which we are willing to invest in. Farmers will be cutting down on transportation costs as they are currently spending as much as K80 million per season to deliver sugarcane to the available market."

"Through the various investment projects earmarked in the period, we anticipate to grow shareholder value and increase annual revenue from MK13.3 billion to MK25.1 billion by 2025 as well as increase operating profit by 5 percent above inflation annually," said Guta.

"That is why as a government we are going to support this project while making sure that our farmers also benefit," said Lowe.

Briefing the Minister, Katunga-Maseya (KAMA) Cane growers Cooperative Chairman Collins Mtalika said they have mobilized smallholder sugarcane growers in Traditional Authorities Katunga and Maseya to grow sugarcane on 2000 hectares of community-owned land with support from PressCane Limited and other partners through irrigation farming.

PressCane Malawi Limited has come to the rescue of flood victims who are not in camps in Salumeji, Traditional Authority Katunga, in Chikwawa.

Last Saturday, PressCane distributed food items including maize flour, two litre cooking oil bottles, sugar and soya pieces worth K6.5 million to 500 families of Salumeji village in T/A Katunga in the district.

Government through the National Commission for Science and Technology has been working on a project to enhance production of ethanol as an alternative fuel for vehicles a way of cutting down on expenses of importing petrol. Our reporter Samuel Chibaya talks to Gift Kadzamira the commission’s acting director general on the project’s progress.