The Rift Valley Textile Company will soon start manufacturing 5,000 protection masks daily to fight the coronavirus.
Uasin Gishu county commissioner Abdirisack Jaldesa and Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno said the Eldoret-based Rivatex was ready to start production.
The masks will be cheaper, about Sh40 per piece, instead of as much as Sh150 as they are currently selling.
“The government is already in talks with the Rivatex management on how the production will start soon because we urgently require the protection material for medical staff and the public," Jaldesa said.
The two officials were speaking when receiving sanitisers and fumigation chemicals to disinfecting Eldoret town and neighbouring areas. Rivatex was bought and revived by Moi University three years ago.
The government with support from the Indian government has spent more than Sh6 billion to expand the factory with new machinery. It employes more than 2,000 workers.
“Rivatex has the capacity to produce the required masks for local use and for export," Chemno said.
Governor Jackson Mandago said the county fully supports Rivatex mask production.
CEO of the textile firm Professor Thomas Kurgat says it has faced a shortage of cotton, its main raw material. But it is ready to produce the masks, he said.
“We support the government in the fight against the coronavirus because it affects Kenya as a nation and the entire world," Prof Kurgat said.
The company is used for training purposes by Moi University.
Health CS Mutai Kagwe has said the government will involve local manufacturers including Rivatex and Kitui Textile Company (Kicotex) in producing some protective materials required.
The government has advised all boda boda operators and their passengers to use masks. “They must use the masks if they have to continue operating and we will enforce that," Jaldesa said.
Meanwhile, the government is fumigating markets, streets and slums in Eldoret to disinfect them.
Personnel with equipment and chemicals will fumigate all parts of the town, Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno said. Priority goes to slums for sanitisers and water for handwashing.
“We ask the private sector and other wellwishers to help to make life bearable for the less fortunate as we fight against the coronavirus," Chemno said.
(Edited by V. Graham)
