Borno: Zulum to resurrect moribund tomato factory

The Borno State government is set to revive the state-owned tomato factory.

The government’s plan was announced by the state governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, during an unscheduled visit to the factory located along the Maiduguri-Damaturu highway.

During the visit, Zulum instructed that while the state would rehabilitate the factory’s existing facilities, modern ones would be purchased to improve its operational capacity.

Zulum stressed that in preparation for the factory’s resumption, the state has created 5 hectares of drip-irrigated tomato plantations, which will be expanded to about 100 hectares when it reaches full capacity.

He said: “My main intention is to see how we will revive the moribund factories in Borno Industrial Park, especially the tomato paste factory. I understand that the challenge is the lack of raw materials that would provide a supply of raw materials for the tomato factory.”

He added that, “We have decided to establish a robust drip irrigation system using nets to produce tomatoes. I am happy to note that we are working in a public-private partnership to establish at least a minimum of 100 hectares of tomato plantation.

“As you can see, we started with 5 hectares and, given the variety of tomatoes we produce here, each hectare will produce about 60 tons. When we expand it to 100 hectares, we will get nothing less than 6,000 tons.”

Earlier last week, the governor visited the NEITEL Shoe and Tenary Factory to assess the progress made in its operations.

The company was relaunched through a public-private partnership aimed at creating jobs and generating wealth for the state.

Speaking during the visit to NEITEL, he said: “The government has entered into a public-private partnership to run this important factory. You have seen it all: the factory is now operating at about 70% of its capacity. I would like to commend our partner for the partnership with the Borno State government.”

He added that: “You can see that the company is ready to export about four containers of leather and hide. The products have been brought to Italy and it has been certified that our products are of good quality.

The governor also said, “The factory now produces about 100,000 hides and skins per month. This is part of the government’s efforts to create jobs, generate income and expand sources of wealth creation in the state.”

The post Borno: Zulum to resurrect moribund tomato factory appeared first on TheConclaveNg.