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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Dec. 6

THE 10 cashew factories run by Kerala State Cashew Workers' Apex Industrial Co-operative Society Ltd (Capex) will resume functioning from next week onwards, according to the Capex Chairman, Prof G. Balachandran.

Recent meetings of the central trade unions and the factory trade unions have arrived at a consensus on the need for controlling costs and raise efficiency levels on the shop floor.

After a break of three-and-a-half years, Capex is now seeking to import cashew nuts from Africa.

The losses incurred by the Capex factories are attributable to the fact that the productions overheads are almost twice as much in the private sector factories.

According to Prof Balachandran, the Capex factories were set up to provide a livelihood to cashew labourers who were left in the lurch after private factory owners arbitrarily decided to close down their factories.

But Capex factories have not been able to provide a day's work to labourers during the whole of 2001.

He called for a detailed inquiry by the State Government to pinpoint the reasons why Capex factories have been pushed into a debt trap even after a lot of money has come to be spent for their well-being.

All trade unions have extended their co-operation to the efforts aimed at revamping the operations at Capex.

Employment opportunities can be further boosted with co-operation from the workforce, he said.

The board of the Kollam-based Capex has taken a decision to infuse better transparency into the purchase of raw nuts and sales of processed nuts, the Chairman said.

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