By Surihe Gaomas WINDHOEK An additional newspaper printing press will soon be installed in Windhoek. At present there are three rotary presses in the capital. The N$30-million project is a joint venture between Trustco Group International and The Namibian newspaper. On Friday, the containers with the printing press machinery arrived in the capital at the Lafrenz Industrial Area where a massive building is being erected. The new press will print a number of publications; amongst them The Namibian newspaper and the free publication Informante that is expected to go weekly soon. The printing works was an initiative of Quinton van Royen, Managing Director of the Trustco Group who thought it would be of huge benefit to the printing industry in the country. Explaining the logistics, the previous project manager and managing director of Legal Shield, Stanley Katzao, said the state-of-the-art Goss Community Press, manufactured in the United States, was bought from a British dealer on in May. The machine arrived by ship in Namibia in June and was transported to the capital city where the building for the new printing press is already being built. “We can print any newspaper here from anywhere in the world. They can sit and approve each plate from New York, whether it be broadsheet or tabloid, it can be done,” explained Katzao. “It will be like blanket-to-blanket printing”, he added. Construction of the building started already in the middle of February this year, and, according to Katzao, was slightly delayed due to the frequent rains this season. “We are one week behind schedule, but we are expected to finish construction by end of July or middle August”, he added. To start up the latest venture, four engineering experts are expected from the UK soon to start installing the printing press machinery. The plant is expected to consist of a 33-metre long printing press with conveyor belt, compensating stackers and six-in-one inserting stations. Close to 25 locals are expected to be employed and skills transfer will take place between the first three to six months once operations are underway. Namibia now has a new facility for any local newspapers, magazines or institutions to have their products printed at this site ready for distribution. “There is now flexibility to print what you want”, added Mia De Klerk, marketing manager and public relations officer of the Trustco Group. She noted that this would give the public another option to start up their own community newspaper or magazine. De Klerk told New Era that the printing press will also provide service to the IOL Institute for student study materials to be printed there. The state-of-the-art machinery is expected to print between 25 000 to 30 000 impressions per hour. This can only be found at two factories in the world – one in the United States and the other in China. Next to the new printing press site in the Lafrenz area, offices for the Trustco International Group on the Lafrenz Property Development are under construction. The first buildings are expected to be completed in February next year.