Webuye Pan Paper Mills will be commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta and reopened in September.
Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka said the government will ensure
all dues owed to workers are paid after the reopening.
"We will ensure our people are the immediate beneficiaries of the revival of this once-great company," he said.
He spoke during an inspection of the facility to which he was accompanied by Water CS Eugene Wamalwa, Bumula MP Boniface Otsiula and ADC Chairman Wafwoli Bifwoli.
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Pan paper was closed in 2008 after its electricity bills accumulated to more than Sh500 million, under Indian investors who later fled.
Uhuru announced plans to reopen the factory in April saying
an agreement with a strategic investor had been reached.
The mill was then
acquired by Rai Group.
The Rai family, who run Raiply and Timsales, is said to have
acquired
the firm, ready to pump Sh6 billion to revive it.
The factor was to be reopened on August 30, but logistical challenges in acquiring new machinery and upgrading it pushed this back.
Uhuru said the reopening
would see livelihoods of residents of Western Kenya improved through the more than 1,500 new job opportunities.
The President added that the facility
which has been idle for years, will also absorb former employees.
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