Caswell Tlali
MASERU — A textile factory in Mafeteng is on the brink of collapse that could leave at least 2 300 workers jobless by the end of next month.
P&T Garments Factory has been running massive losses for the past two years but now the owners say unless they get more orders the company will not last until the end of next month.
They said although a financial bail-out from the government might help in the short term it will not help much because the company is currently in dire need of new orders to stay afloat.
The general manager of P&T Garments, Nkopane Monyane, broke the sad news of the imminent closure during a meeting with workers and trade union officials held at the factory on Thursday.
The firm’s human resources manager, Maleshoane Thene, confirmed to the Sunday Express that the company could shut down at the end of February because of financial problems.
Thene said P&T Garment has been hard hit by the current global economic meltdown.
Added to the company’s problems, Thene said, was the slowdown in orders over the past five years.
The problems started when the World Trade Organisation lifted trade barriers on textiles.
That move meant small companies like P&T from economically weak countries like Lesotho faced competition from big corporations in rich countries in the world market.
P&T is one of Lesotho’s over 50 textile firms that export 90 percent of their products to the United States under the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) provision which guarantees duty-free access to the US market for African countries.
“Our problems started in 2005 after trade barriers were removed,” Thene said.
“That was when we started laying off workers from time to time because the small amount of orders we fetched could not sustain their permanent employment.
“The world economic crisis found us already shaky.
“In most cases when orders came we would have a few skilled workers to complete the targets in time and it was not easy to speedily recruit other skilled workers because we are the only textile firm in Mafeteng.
“We could not find new skilled workers among jobseekers lining outside the gates.”
Monyane told the Sunday Express that even a bail-out from the government might not be able to save the company from collapse.
“All we have to do as the Lesotho textile industry is to negotiate with the buyers to consider buying from us, not to ask for money from the government because it will not help improve the business,” Monyane said.
“The kind of financial packages we could ask for should be for subsidising the entire industry to help it keep the business alive but what is most needed is how we acquire orders.
“Even if we can get money from the government, if there are no orders there will still be no business.”
He said running P&T was costly and the only way to keep money coming was by being able to attract buyers.
The secretary-general of the Factory Workers Union (FAWU), Seabata Likoti, said P&T’s closure would be a huge blow to people in Mafeteng.
Likoti said P&T was the remaining factory in the district after the closure of the ceramic and pharmaceutical firms since 2000.
“One can say with certainty that Mafeteng is now a district that cannot promise any jobs,” Likoti said.
“P&T was the only hope jobseekers had in the district.
“It was the only place where they queued in numbers with hope of getting a job because there are no other big firms in the district.”
The vice-president of FAWU who is also a worker at the firm, Ntsopane Mokhafola, said workers were caught unawares.
“I am of the view that the management made a sudden decision to close this firm and this has caught us off guard,” Mokhafola said.
Mokhafola said it would be a huge blow for her if the factory closed its doors.
“I am a widow who is looking after a 14-year-old girl and my aged mother who are wholly dependent on me,” she said.
“It will be worse when I will have to go to Maseru to look for another job leaving my child in a rented house only to rent another house for myself.
“It is not going to be easy; I am simply not going to cope.”