EFFORTS TO REVIVE DEFUNCT TYRE FACTORY IN PROGRESS

Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Charles Mwijage.

The government is assessing the cost of reviving the General Tyre East Africa Limited Arusha that will be used as a guide for negotiation with investors who are ready to run the business.

Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Charles Mwijage said on Tuesday that the once lucrative industry is now 100 per cent government property after it acquired 26 per cent shares from Continental AG.

Mr Mwijage said after acquiring the 26 per cent, the government now fully owns the firm and that it is putting things in order before handing it to a serious and capable investor.

“We are now conducting studies by assessing costs of purchasing new and modern machines before handing it over to a new investor,” he said.

The Minister added that earlier, it was revealed that the current machines, which were installed in the 1960s are no longer in good order for competitive production, and that there is also need of installing new and modern machines which will produce quality products.

“The new machines and systems must be friendly to the environment, we are therefore considering all these things in our assessment,” he said.

Moreover, Mr Mwijage added that there is need to expand the factory so that it can produce more tyres of different sizes and in accordance to the needs in the region and to meet economies of scale.

The Minister clarified more that the firm will be run by the private sector and that the government will own shares in accordance to the firm’s resources.

Mr Mwijage was re sponding to Ubungo MP (Chadema), Saed Kubenea who wanted to know when the government will revive General Tyre industry so that it can create employment to Tanzanians.

The MP also wanted to know the cost of reviving the industry and the government efforts to find the required money. In August, 2015, the government acquired 100 per cent shares in the Arusha based General Tyre East Africa (GTEA) with the aim of reviving commercial production of the factory, as part of national plans to guarantee development of industries.

Some years back, General Tyre attained a peak production of 1,200 tyres a day with 4,000 employees. It first began production in 1971 and changed ownership several times in the late 1990s and mid-2000s when General Tyre North America sold shares to the German-based Continental AG company.

The plant was closed in 2009 due to various factors.

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