Matala – The Administrator of the Matala municipality of Huíla Province, Manuel Quilende, on Wednesday, urged the farmers of the local irrigated perimeter to increase production of tomato aiming to attract investors to the Capelongo processing factory, which stopped working in 1980.
Currently, the tomato production covers more than 11,000 hectares, with harvest of 4,000 tons per year, when the factory capacity is to process over 12.000 tons of fresh tomatoes yearly.
Manuel Machado Quilende, who is in office for three weeks, visited the manufacturing plant located in the Capelongo commune with the objective of identifying the real problems and creating policies to improve the unity and boost the productive sector.
At the end, he recommended the Capelongo administration and agriculture office to sensitise some of the local farmers and provide to them stimulus to invest in the cultivation of quality tomatoes and in quantities that will attract potential investors to the factory.
The administrator, who also assessed the operation of the cold storage chambers financed with public money, guaranteed that all sectors of the municipality's development would receive his attention.
Under the management of the Development Society of Matala Municipality (SODMAT), which oversees the Irrigated Perimeter and all the infrastructure to support production, the first investment in the factory was made by the state in 2008, with funding of USD 10 million from the Angolan Development Bank (BDA).
The inauguration was scheduled for 2010, but never took place because the Portuguese-Spanish contractor did not finish assembling the packaging line and other equipment and left the country.
Today, part of the machinery has been vandalised, especially the electrical and air compression systems, requiring a new investment of around USD 3 million.
The infrastructure built in the 1960s has a processing capacity of six tons of tomatoes per hour.
The Matala irrigated perimeter has a 43-kilometre-long channel and 11,000 irrigated hectares. It was built in the 1950s, rehabilitated and reopened in August 2002. MS/MRA/DOJ
