Mr Mawuena Kwasi Amedorme, 31, a Ghanaian textiles designer, has fabricated a batik production machine powered by an electric motor. Mr Amedorme, a product of Tema Textile Institute, claims the machine is a novelty. Currently, printing of batik in Ghana is done manually. Mr Amedorme told the Ghana News Agency during the demonstration of the machine that the original invention was made with wooden parts but that could not withstand pressure of work. He said the current configured metal unit costs 20,000 Ghana cedis and with a capacity to produce 270 bales a month. The machine is being operated by the Quality Batik Printers Company Limited based in Ho with 80 employees who run two shifts. Mr Steven Osabutey, Chief Executive Officer of the company, said business prospects were good but some workers wanted labour issues to be regularised to give the company a boost. Mr Owusu Boadu, a batik tie and dye merchant based in Accra, said the machine would revolutionise the batik business with better quality products. Mr Selina Yeboah, a batik exporter, said the machine would improve the capacity of exporters to meet orders from abroad. Source: GNA