Damascus-SANA
Despite the difficulties, the provision of its equipment and looms, and the destruction and looting of its contents by the terrorists during the war years, the workers and technicians of the Damascus Carpet Factory exert their utmost efforts to weave woolen carpets, which are among the best types of carpets.
According to the director of the factory, Eng. Hayan Abu Fakhr, the factory, which belongs to the General Company for Woolen and Carpets, based in Hama, was established in 1959, and continued to work for more than sixty years without stopping, that is, until 2012, the beginning of the terrorist war on Syria, and then stopped for about two years as a result of the destruction and vandalism it was subjected to. Its contents were looted and stolen by the terrorists. After the terrorists were expelled from the area, the factory partially returned to production after its cadres restored the looms, machines and equipment.
Abu Fakhr indicated that the factory, despite all the difficulties it faces, was able to produce and sell more than 14,900 square meters from the beginning of the year until the end of last month, at a value of more than 900 million Syrian pounds, or 50 percent of the production plan.
Abu Fakhr pointed out that all the factory's products are fully marketed, as the price per square meter of woolen carpets produced is 72,000 pounds at retail, 68,000 pounds for those over 500 meters, and the price in installments is 75,000 pounds.
Abu Fakhr pointed out that the factory is currently facing many difficulties, including a shortage of labor and the absence of young people, as the total number of its cadres is 107 workers, guards, technicians and administrators, explaining that the largest number of workers currently are elderly who possess technical expertise, especially weavers. What threatens the exit of these experiences as they approach the age of retirement, suggesting that graduates of specialized intermediate institutes be re-sorted into the productive sector, especially textile, and encourage them to work and give them privacy in the system of production incentives so that the factory can maintain its expertise and attract its need for employment.
Abu Fakhr pointed out that the factory also suffers from many malfunctions as a result of the old machines and looms, which number 16, of which only six operate, and the difficulty of securing replacement parts, indicating that the factory’s plan for the year 2023 is to preserve this industry by developing and modernizing two looms to raise production capacity and change approved patterns. in the shortest possible time.
It is noteworthy that the type of woolen carpet is produced by only two factories in Syria, the Damascus factory and the Sweida factory.
Ahmed Souliman
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