AKWA IBOM-based Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing Company has shut down operations in the state.
The company, owned by a Turkish national, Onur Kumral is one of the several industries attracted to the state by the administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel.
The company manufacturing plant is in Mr Emmanuel’s country home – Awa-Iman, in Onna Local Government Area of the state.
Confirming the development in an interview, the Managing Director of the company, Akin Oyediran, said the shutdown was triggered by the harsh economic situation in the country.
“I can confirm to you that we’ve temporarily shut down our operations. We intend to open it back stronger and better.
“The economic issues have taken a toll on us as a company. We are working on different forms of financing and reorganisation. So, what we have decided to do is reorganise and then come back in the future,” Mr Oyediran said.
Asked how long it would take the company to restore operations, Mr Oyediran said, “Well, I don’t like to predict time for anything. God makes things work. When the time comes you will hear from us that we are back again.”
On the specific challenges that the company is facing, Mr Oyediran said, “Import duties are high on raw materials, dollars is high, cost of power is high. We are trying to do something to invest in different sources of power to make it better.”
When asked if he had sought the intervention of the Akwa Ibom State government before shutting down, Mr Oyediran said the company is not state-owned and that the state government does not owe it any intervention.
He, however, assured that the company will strategise and come back stronger and bigger.
The shutting down of the Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing Company is coming about two years after the company owner, Mr Kumral said that the company would start exporting syringes to Germany in 2021.
He had said that the company was working on raising its production capacity from 400 million to 800 million and then one billion, a feat he said would be achieved by the end of 2022.
Meanwhile, the company has denied an indefinite shutdown of operations. A press statement made available to Eighteen-Eleven Media quotes the company as saying the decision is only momentary.
The company said that despite the huge sum invested in the syringe factory, the management staff have been unable to meet its expected target, hence the decision of the investors to restructure and reorganise the management team and the entire structures of the production lines for better profitability and sustainability.
In the statement issued by JSM investors through the Managing Director of VKS Group of Companies, Mr Onur Kumral, the investors dismissed news reports that JSM was ending its operations in the country completely. The Managing Director explained that contrary to reports, the company is only undergoing a restructuring phase which will only make the company experience a brief break within this period.
Kumral noted that the reorganisation of JSM is a decision of the investors following the inability of the management to meet up with its expected targets for several years stressing that the shake-up only affects management staff and the entire structures of the production line, which is geared towards better productivity of the company. He assured that the company will return to full operations soon.
The statement reads in part: “JSM is simply undertaking temporary measures to ensure the long-term sustainability of its operations. Restructuring is not new in any given business environment and sometimes you undertake reviews with sustainability in mind.
“When you set up a multimillion-dollar factory such as JSM, it is important to take a critical review of its operations and that of the management staff. JSM is a for-profit business and when expected targets are not met year after year, a shake-up is inevitable, which is what we have decided to do.
“We want to assure our esteemed customers that there is no need to panic. We are still in business as Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing Limited and we are poised to keep to our commitment to remain as the producer of the highest quality syringes in Nigeria.
“We call on the general public and our esteemed customers to disregard insinuations in certain media outlets reporting a total shutdown of JSM operations in Nigeria, we remain in business, and we will come back stronger than before.”
Additional report courtesy of PremiumTimes
Eighteen-Eleven Media