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School uniforms focus on local manufacturing

30 Sep 2020

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa earlier this week explored the possibility of assigning the larger percentage of the supply of uniform material to school and security forces to local industrialists. He emphasised that it is imperative to commence the production of standard and high-quality textiles immediately, the President’s Media Division (PMD) stated. The President made these comments following an inspection visit to several textile manufacturers in the Dankotuwa Industrial Zone yesterday (29), including Dankotuwa Textile Mill, Vanguard Industrial (Pvt.) Ltd. in Ja-Ela, and Creative Textile Mill (Pvt.) Ltd. During the visit, numerous garment industrialists conveyed that following the uniform coupon system, they had to shut down a number of their production facilities which were built at a capital expenditure, while a large number of employees were laid off as well. The President first visited Creative Textile Mill, a company which was an investment of Rs. 2,000 million and remains shut down since 2015. Despite its discontinued production and income, the proprietor has had to pay an interest of Rs. 8 million to banks annually, the PMD noted. Furthermore, Creative Textile Mill has been importing threads from India, Pakistan, and China to produce clothing material and has managed to employ 500 people. The production capacity of the facility is to be increased to 100,000 m per day, while the annual school uniform requirement is estimated at 11 million. President Rajapaksa had motivated the managerial-level staff to recommence their apparel production and requested them to figure out a plan for the self-employed entrepreneurs to contribute to the demand for the school uniforms. “We can reduce the import cost by 68% if we can boost the local textile production,” the President highlighted, adding that with the purchase of local garments, the Ministry of Education could save up to Rs. 80 million annually. He further drew attention to the issues raised by the local political authority and the people regarding the Industrial Estate in Dankotuwa. Vanguard Industries, which supplied 40% of the school uniform requirement before 2015, is now engaged in producing bed sheets and towels, the PMD said. President Rajapaksa, who observed the overall production process of the company, encouraged the management to increase the capacity to meet the demand for fabrics in the local market. The management stated that their establishment has the capacity to supply 30% of the school uniform material requirement. The President then inspected Creative Textile Mill, a branch of Dankotuwa Textile Mill, where fabrics for the uniforms of the tri-forces are manufactured there. The company employs over 1,500 people and one of the primary functions of the company is to dye fabrics as required by the security forces. The management told the President that imported fabrics are not tested and that there is a high cost involved in testing local fabric products. They pointed out that laundry detergents are not properly regulated, and as a result, a significant amount of damage can happen to the colour of the fabric. The President urged them to take advantage of the assistance provided by the Government to local industrialists and strive to win both local and foreign markets. President Rajapaksa also inspected the production of the national and Buddhist flags in the company and instructed the owners to increase the production to meet the local demand accordingly. Minister of Industries Wimal Weerawansa also accompanied the President during the observation tour.


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