By Sulaiman Jalloh
The Chief Whip of the main opposition in Parliament, Hon. Abdul Karim Kamara (AKK) has questioned the standard and reliability of the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau, stating that the entity should be seen as a death trap.
His assertions were altered amidst complains from citizens on the increase of expired goods and some substandard materials in the market.
Speaking on Thursday, October 31st, 2024 during the sixth sittings of parliament while the House was approving board members of both the National Consumer Protection Commission of Sierra Leone and the National Revenue Authority (NRA) he said that Standards Bureau no longer works in maintaining standards but alleged that the entity only cares about making money.
AKK added that the bureau has a responsibility which is to test what citizens consume, medicines they drink and to test even building materials, noting that the bureau is not doing its job accordingly. “Standards Bureau is far below the tax, it’s not just today’s problem and so, I am one the members of the water committee in Parliament. The company is supposed to test the water sampling, but interestingly you would come to the realization that if you were going to do water testing in Sierra Leone, it is the factory or the company that owns their water to be tested and is what they submit is tested” he underscored, emphasizing that the bureau didn’t test the machines except when the companies are doing registration.
The Law maker furthered that, standards bureau used to have a department at the water-quay where they test food and non-food items before they enter into the country for safety, stressing that the bureau does not have the resources and equipment to run their work hence ‘they are dead trap’ while giving an example on the colors of fuel and gas been sold in the country, something he said is caused by low standard performance of standards bureau.
