So far the factory has produced 3500 masks, revealed Hioshi Yamamoto, technical administrator of Alassola. However, he admitted that the factory has the capacity to increase production in the near future.
"We have 110 machines and if the demand is very large we can increase the production and with the nominal capacity assembled we can reach one million masks/month," he told Angop.
According to the technical administrator of Alassola, the factory decided to reuse the leftover fabric that existed to make the masks.
Hioshi Yamamoto assured that the fabric used is 100 percent cotton, thus fitting the characteristics recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). He also made it known that the textile was also approved by the Ministry of Health.
Tambwe Mucaz, president of the plant's board of directors, revealed that the plant is committed to fighting the virus.
For the time being, the factory has the help of 15 young people to produce the masks. However, more manpower will be needed: 1200 employees and more than 11,000 tons of cotton per year will be needed to produce the masks and the rest of the products - such as towels and sheets.
Alassola is a 100 per cent Angolan company operating in Benguela province. It is the successor to the now defunct Textile Africa, which was paralyzed in 1998 and declared bankrupt in 2000.
