Tumba College of Technology, last week, handed over assorted equipment to one of the biggest tea companies in the country, Sorwathé. The equipment was manufactured by the Rulindo-based school. It included, five solar-powered heaters and five temperature sensors which will help in measuring the temperature of the tea as it goes through one level of production to the next.

The event was attended by officials from Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA), one of the key partners of Tumba College of Technology.

"The solar heaters were bought at a subsidised price of Rwf2 million while the sensors were donated by JICA. Our main goal is to have a production department that is not only capable of giving our students the best skills but also one that’s capable of sufficiently sustaining itself in the future,” said John Bosco Nkuranga, the deputy principal in charge of academics.

Nkuranga said the college  has maintained close links with Sorwathé since March last year when they installed equipment that included sensors in tea fermenting machines, along with a digital display to monitor temperature measurements.

Rohith Peiris, the director general of Sorwathe Ltd, expressed gratitude for the good relationship between Tumba College and his firm, adding that the digital temperature monitoring system had proven quite useful in maintaining the quality of their tea.

He said that their main objective is to install more renewable energy gadgets at Sorwathé. They have so far installed solar-powered water heating systems at some of quarters of their employees.

"We have a plan to use the existing roof space of our factory to generate solar energy but we are still waiting for the power purchase agreement with the Government of Rwanda,” Rohith said.