Installs multi-million naira printing machine
By John Nwokocha
Baring last minutes delays the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company(NSPMC) Plc better known as ‘ Mint’ is set to install a multi million naira complete production line or machines which will boost its production capacity.
Blueprint authoritatively gathered that the machines with a performance capacity of 1.2 million, manufactured by KBA in Germany will arrive the Nigerian shores July 19, and will replace some obsolete machines in its factories when they are finally installed. A highly placed source close to the acting managing director of the Mint, Alhaji Ahmed Nuhu Bamali, disclosed exclusively yesterday that its Abuja factory is 98% ready for installation of the new machines, adding that it is targeted at increasing the daily notes or currency production capacity which is currently between seven and eight million notes per day.
It was reliably gathered that the Mint currently can boast of only one BPX 2000 machine meant for quality inspection of notes, but that the organisation needs a minimum of five of such machine to increase its productivity.
The source while stressing that obsolete machines constitute its major challenges debunked stories in the press insinuating staff low morale, division among directors along ethnic line leading to a reported imminent shake up.
It would be recalled that the said dispute among its directors allegedly affected the organisation in great measure hence the management could not present its budget for 2014.
However, the source dismissed the report, in the same breath stated in a telephone chart that ‘the entire work force is happy. For the first time in the history of the Mint there is a level playing ground. Our staff were stagnated for 15, 18 years, over issue of qualifications and discrimination between BSc and HND, the new administration resolved it and introduced the Golden hand shake in 2012. We have put in place career path for staff’.
On the allegation on lack of patronage the source said ‘we are still CBN’s big customer, we have note stacked in our Lagos and Abuja factories. We are outsourcing jobs like the Nigerian pilgrims passports are printed by the Mint’.
On steps taken to beef up security within the Mint premises, to avoid a repetition of the missing N900, 000.00, the source said ‘we have ensured that all our CCTV are working to strengthen security in the Mint. We would not want to have another missing N900, 000.00 un accounted for. There was an attempted theft of N1.5m but it was averted with the help of the CCTV camera in place. The only incident the public knows is the case of the N2.1bn in 2012, which was investigated by 3-man committee and three directors were indicted including the chief security officer and director of currency operations in Lagos. All these are in the CBN’S Audit Report of 2013’.
On the 2014 budget issue it said ‘the budget is our major setback’
