By Roland Ike
The Ebonyi state Government says it has revived the state pipe production factory, located at Ezzamgbo with over N1 billion making it optimally operational.
The factory established by the Elechi administration, had been moribund with tales of vandalisation of critical equipment, trailing it.
The Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Chief Oguzor Offia-Nwali who led some newsmen on a tour of the factory Thursday, said that the ‘revived’ factory presently produces pipes of varying sizes and shapes.
Offia-Nwali said that the factory presently has the capacity to produce more than 6,500 pipes of various sizes daily .
“The factory has machines capable of producing 2,500 pipes during the day and the same quantity at night due to their sophisticated nature.
“”The 75mm to 160mm pipes are slower due to their shape but the quality of the pipes we produce can not be matched anywhere,” he said.
The Commissioner reiterated the state government’s readiness to equip the factory with both manpower and equipment for optimal operation.
“The factory operates optimally for six days in a week and unlike the
3mm or 3.5mm guage found in the market, ours is 4mm gauge.
“We operate on day and night shifts because each time the machines are turned off, it will take about three to four hours to restart for production.
“We commence production from mondays to saturdays weekly with sundays for rest,” he said.
He emphasised that the factory can produce enough pipes to serve the south east geo-political zone and beyond as there was no pipe production factory in the zone.
“We encourage prospective buyers to be patient as prices of pipes produced in the factory would soon be made public.
“We would soon update our prices to enable us to take orders from our callers,” he said.
Offia-Nwali noted the factory had made enough provision for regular power supply to ensure non- disruption of operations.
“We have three diesel- powered generators supplying power alongside industrial–electricity which provides at least 20 hours of steady power daily.
“The factory’s staff strength is strong as those operating the machines were recommended by the company which produced them.
“The governor has approved the engagement of 20 operational staff because the machines are delicate and require at least 8 to 10 staff per line to prevent jams and burnouts,,” he said.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Ebonyi Council, Mr Samson Nwafor who spoke on behalf of the newsmen, commended Gov. Francis Nwifuru for revamping the factory.
“This shows his avowed determination to industrialise the state as the commissioner and his team should be commended for delivering on the mandate given to them.”
