Association plans commercialisation of rice destoning machine in Q1

Fri, Jan 4, 2019 | By publisher


Business

The Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering (NATE) on Friday said it would commercialise its rice destoning machine in the first quarter of the year.

The Chairman, NATE Lagos Chapter, Mr Ibidapo Kayode, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

“Last year, precisely on Dec. 10, 2018, we were invited by the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, and we were given the certificate of patency on the rice destoning machine.

“We are making efforts to see that we get the needed funds which can come in form of loan to enable the commercialisation of the rice destoning machine.

“We have also started the scaling down of the machine so that it will be affordable for people to buy and the size easy to carry.

“The pace we are going now is to see that we roll it out in the first quarter of the year,’’ he said.

Kayode said that the expectations of the association were for government to play its own part by coming to their aid by providing the needed funds.

He said that the association on its own would produce two to three Rice de Stoner machine and when ready, would invite government to see and grant them the funds.

Kayode said that the aim was to produce in large quantities for people to buy and to also produce in the country with local raw materials instead of going to China and other foreign countries.

The chairman said that technologists in the country still faced a lot of challenges apart from the monetary ones and listed one of them as the disparity existing in the industry.

“There was a circular passed last year that holders of the Higher National Diploma certificate in government parastatals are now allowed to go upward without being stopped at grade level 14.

“Up till now, some government parastatals especially in the southern part of the country have not adhered to the circular; only those in the north have done so.

“We want to enjoin government to make it compulsory for all government parastatals and agencies to abide by the circular,’’ he said.

Kayode also said that on the issue of comparison, there was need for technologists to have their own nomenclature like in engineering, sciences and other fields.

“Director of Engineering, the same needs to be applied to technologists as  Director of Technology and so forth; so that everybody can operate within his  limits and fields,’’ he said. (NAN)

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