The Head of the Textile Department of Takoradi Polytechnic, Mr Richard Quaye, has called on the government to take measures to check illegal importation of cheap textile products.
Additionally, he said, there was the need for the government to encourage demand for local textiles and check the influx of second-hand clothing on the local market.
In an interview, Mr Quaye said the implementation of those measures could shore up the textile industry and create job opportunities for people.
He was of the view that the dwindling fortunes of the textile industry had become a disincentive for students and graduates in the garment industry as they had problems with internship and job placements because of the low capacity of the textile industry to employ more hands.
Hitherto, he said, the local textile industry produced raw cotton, grey baft, calico, wax prints, Java prints, fancy prints, upholstery fabrics, curtains, towels, blankets, batik and tie-dye fabrics, jute sacks, bandages, kitchen napkins, socks, T-shirts, among others.
“But over the past few years, the textile industry, which was supposed to be the major employer of students after school, has suffered a massive decline,” he observed.
The downturn, Mr Quaye said, had led to massive job cuts in the industry. According to him, more than 25,000 workers were employed in 1975 by the sector alone, but today the industry employed barely 3,000 workers.
He said out of about 20 large-scale textile factories that were established in the 1970s only five are presently struggling to survive.
“Apart from the large to medium-scale textile factories that have collapsed, there were thousands of small-scale textile set-ups scattered across the length and breadth of the country whose activities have come to an end due to frustration,” he said.
He said to help whip up interest in the local textile industry, the department had instituted a Special Textile Day Float to educate the general public on the subject matter.
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