Thursday, August 23, 2011 - Daily News

The introduction of textile engineering course at the University of Dar es Salaam has been received with mixed feelings amid hopes that it would revamp the ailing textile industry. But, those who worked in the industry during its days of glory in the 1980s remain skeptical of the industry that thrived with over 23 textile mills in the country.
The textile programme coordinator in the Mechanical engineering department at the University of Dar es Salaam, Dr Leornard Mwaikombo, said in an interview with ‘Daily News’ yesterday that they would have Bachelor of Science in Textile engineering and Bachelor of science in textile designs.
The two programmes compliment each other,” he said, noting that the programme was initiated by the government in 2006 but did not bear fruit at the time. But in 2007, he said, the Gatby Foundation approached the training institution to develop a textile programme, with the objective being to add value in the country’s cotton.
He said the programme would provide employment and reactivate the textile sector through supply of human capital. He said it would also trickle down to agriculture sector because of the huge consumption of cotton.
“By this, we will get creative human capital because, currently, there is a huge gap in the textile sector,” he said, adding, “We had over 20 mills and the country had trained people abroad.” The don said the institute had already made communication to some textile factories, which were in high demand of managerial think tanks and that they were looking forward to receiving their graduates.
Mr Marceline Komba, who was the last General Manager for the gigantic Kilimanjaro Textile Corporation (KILITEX) before it went to the doldrums, said many industries were handed to some incapable investors. And, as a result many mills stopped producing clothes and were instead turned into warehouses while others were producing at low capacity.
Government statistics suggest that over 20,000 tons of second hand clothes are imported into the country every year, filling a gap left behind by the drastic decline of the textile industry. Mr. Godfrey mwendwa, a textile specialist and former employee with Mwanza Textile, said there is need for a baseline study on actual capacity of the industry now, since it lost its glory in the later 1980s.