Beja/Tunisia — The Beja sugar factory has been operating for two weeks at a production rate of 500 tonnes per day, which represents half of Tunisia's sugar needs, estimated at 1,000 tonnes per day, the company's CEO Mohamed Bahri Gabsi told TAP on Monday.

He added that maintenance work, the company's restructuring and equipment programme and investment and development plans are expected to bring productivity up to more than 700 tonnes per day and create a sustainable production pattern within the framework of a sustainable sugar system.

He stressed that the shortage of sugar on the regional and national markets is not the responsibility of the Tunisian Sugar Company, explaining that its distribution is subject to a complete system under the responsibility of the National Trade Board.

Bahri Gabsi pointed out that the factory requires regular maintenance and that, although its equipment is more than half a century old, it has always resumed its activities, has not closed its doors and is operating at its normal pace.

It should be noted that the sugar system is monitored by a ministerial committee and was the subject of a special follow-up by President Kais Said last December.