-calibration of breathalyzers under study
The GNBS completed the stamping of 511 scales used for commercial trade as well as 28 petrol pumps last month and is set to start inspections for the last quarter of the year.
In a press release the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) said reports from the recently concluded National Weights and Measures Monitoring Committee held on September 24 indicated that a significant amount of work had been done in the Weights and Measures programme. It said it verified a total of 511 scales, 804 masses and 16 measures in September.
The GNBS administers the programme and coordinates it through monthly, statutory meetings. Weights and Measures services offered under the programme have continued to expand and it opened a new sub-office in Lethem following the opening of the Takutu Bridge. A new Weights and Measures officer trained by the GNBS was also recently employed by the Region One administration and arrangements are ongoing to employ a replacement officer in Region Eight.
At the meetings officers from regions six and seven indicated that scheduled renovation works on their respective offices have been completed. The meeting also agreed that there was need for closer collaboration between the GNBS and the Guyana Police Force especially regarding calibration and verification of the accuracy of breathalysers, speed guns and scales used by the force. It is currently trying to determine how to calibrate these devices.
As regard plans for the last quarter of the year, Weights and Measures officers will start surveillance inspections at shops, markets and other sale outlets countrywide to ensure that all weighting and measuring devices used in commercial trade are verified. Devices that have not been verified for the said period will be seized.
Further, during surveillance inspections, officers will continue to inform vendors and shopkeepers about using the metric system during trade. “More needs to be done to facilitate the transition from imperial to metric,” the GNBS said. Inspectors also hosted a two-day meeting with vendors and shopkeepers at Wakenaam, Region three to address their concerns as well as to host verification exercises. Similar visits will be conducted in regions four, five, six and 10 in the final quarter of the year.
