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Tses Glass claims N$10 billion deal with TransNamib

Since the ostentatious groundbreaking of the Tses Glass factory in June last year, the Groot Systems CEO, Simon Kapenda said that a Ukraine-based civil engineering company has since been appointed to construct the first of the two glass factories.

Tses Glass plans to have an annual gross production capacity of 20 million net tons of glass and expects to create more than 40,000 new direct and indirect jobs within three years.
Kapenda said Tses Glass is expecting to sign a N$10 billion agreement with TransNamib to transport the raw material and finished products for Tses Glass for 10 years.
“Hopefully this could also help revive the ailing TransNamib” Kapenda said adding that in May, Tses Glass signed an agreement with Telecom Namibia to install free Wi-Fi in Tses for all residents.
Masonry training for the 670 recruited construction workers begun mid-June and is planned to end in August. During the construction process, 400 experienced workers and skilled artisans will be deployed for the construction of the two Tses Glass factories, according to Kapenda.
He also mentioned that the Karas Governor, Hon Lucia Basson requested Tses Glass two weeks ago to put the masonry training on hold until the project documents are in order for the governor to assist in getting the go-ahead from the government.
This, Kapenda said, is needed by their financier before the release of funds, not revealing the identity of the financier. “We hope to resume our masonry training programme in mid August. The civil work for the construction of the two glass factories is scheduled to start mid-September 2015.”
“The initial 15-year contract handed to Hakahana Industries has since then been cancelled and taken over by Groot Chemicals, a subsidiary of Groot Group, due to their alleged inability to develop a successful silica sand factory in Tses.”
Kapenda then claimed that Groot Chemicals has already recruited 950 factory workers for its silica sand factory in Ongwediva to supply silica sand to Tses Glass.
The Environment Impact Assessment is scheduled to be released in a week’s time. Drilling on site is also planned to start soon, Kapenda said.
According to Kapenda, Tses Glass factory is expected to become the largest dynamic glass factory in Africa, as it plans to focus on the manufacturing of a wide range of float glass, container glass, tableware glass, fibre glass, and ultra-thin glass for the construction of residential and commercial buildings as well as for industrial applications, kitchenware, touch screen computing and smart phones devices for the markets around the world.

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