Despite the increasing number of daily recorded cases of people who have tested positive to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, the federal government is yet to respond to proposals sent to it through the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment by indigenous companies, including Innoson Vehicle Manufacturers (IVM).
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) recorded a total of 117 coronavirus positive test cases on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, the highest number of such cases reported on a day by the agency since the first day the virus broke out in the country. That took the number to 782, which rose to 873 by Wednesday, with 91 new confirmations.
Speaking to BusinessDay on Wednesday, Cornel Osigwe, head of corporate communications of Innoson group said, the company had submitted proposal to the federal government many weeks ago for the production of ventilators, masks and other medical equipment required for the fight against the deadly disease threatening the economic and social lives of nations worldwide.
“The Innoson group has the capacity to produce 50 ventilators daily in addition to other medical equipment to complement federal government’s fight against coronavirus. Apart from a state-of-art facility in our factory, we have concluded arrangements with our foreign technical partners in China for the manufacture of ventilators. I am not saying that government will not respond to our proposal, but cannot categorically state exactly when that will happen,” Osigwe said.
The Innoson spokesman stated that the automobile assembler was still expecting a response to its proposal from the federal government to start making the ventilators and a strong assurance of an enabling environment to operate.
Innoson group is seeking N4billion loan funding from the Central Bank of Nigeria to augment its existing facilities to jump-start the production of ventilators and other medical equipment to complement the country’s decadent health infrastructure.
A ventilator is an automated equipment that pumps air in and out of the lungs of patients unable to breathe on their own. All that Innoson needs to produce it, is to install a separate production line or retrofit its existing factory to manufacture medical equipment rather than cars and trucks.
The federal government confirmed recently that there were ongoing discussions with Innoson and two other local car companies that had expressed the interest to manufacture the much-needed ventilators to fight the coronavirus pandemic. However, more than two weeks after this move became public knowledge, no concrete action seem to have been taken while the battle against coronavirus devastation rages.
Niyi Adebayo, minister of industry, trade and investment, who disclosed this to journalists in Abuja, said Innoson had specifically sent in a proposal seeking government’s support to make ventilators and expressed its interest in partnership.
Adebayo also noted that the government, in partnership with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, was ramping up local production of food and pharmaceuticals needed to curb the impact of coronavirus, saying the manufacturers are efficiently closing the gap of what is required.
“As you know, world over the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the world to health and economic crisis and countries are shutting borders. We’ve thrown that challenge to our manufacturers and they are responding accordingly,” Adebayo said.
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