Member of the Textile, Garments & Tailoring Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (TGTSSAN) has called on the Federal Government and stakeholders in the textile industries to empower farmers to grow cotton by making funds and seeds available to them.
TGTSSAN in a communiqué signed by its National President, Comrade Ambi Karu, and Vice President, Comrade Babatunde Alamutu, noted that operators in textile industry were faced with perennial challenges, stressing that until those challenges are comprehensively addressed the industry will remain in limbo.
The communiqué was issued at the end of 2019 industrial relations seminar held in Owerri, Imo state.
It noted that to help the textile industry move forward, funds and seeds should be made available to farmers to go into large scale production.
Other problems the participants identified as inimical to textile industry growth include lack of cotton board to monitor the activities of the farmers; provision of storage facilities where excess cotton can be stored to avoid wastage as well as making power available.
The stakeholders emphasized that power remained one of the major challenges as cost of alternative power supply such as generators was huge.
It also identified good roads to move finished products from factory to the market as an incentive to aid the industry.
Besides, they also stressed the need to fund the training institute to enable people acquire more knowledge and skills on the job.
