Fake cement on the market
Jan 05, 2005
After the Bwebajja incident in which a building under construction collapsed and killed people, one would think Ugandans learnt a lesson.
After the Bwebajja incident in which a building under construction collapsed and killed people, one would think Ugandans learnt a lesson.
Although many people blamed the tragedy on shoddy engineering works, many fingers pointed at possible substandard building materials and especially fake cement. One would also think that when such tragedies became common, whoever is tempering with the cement would stop after knowing that his or her actions were endangering people’s lives. Due to high public outcry, the Police decided to investigate the matter. On December 16, the Police raided one of the container shops at Goods Shade, a joint located on Entebbe Road near Queen ‘s Way roundabout.
The store men were parking ‘cement’ in what looked like genuine cement paper bags.
On one side of the container was a heap of well crushed and sieved whitish clay and the other side were heaps of lime and in another were heaps of genuine Hima cement, having unpacked it from its paper bags that lay on the floor. In the room were three men at work. Musa Ntagya, Akwanyi Sabiti and Charles Bate.
“The men were mixing the clay, lime and a bit of Hima Cement, which they later parked into paper bags bearing the label of Bamburi Cement,†narrated Oyo Nyeko, the Regional Police Commander for Kampala Extra. In one corner of the store lay 192 bags of ‘Bamburi Cement’, ready for the market. The police confiscated them and on testing it, it was the fake mixture of clay, lime and cement.
The container outlet, like many others in the place, bore no name but is said to have been there for a long time selling cement. Its owner, Lawrence Sajjabi, managed to elude the Police and slipped away.
“He is on the run but we shall get him. We shall charge him with counterfeiting,†vowed Tumwesigye, the Deputy Regional CID Officer, at CPS.
Ntagya and Sabiti were arrested and are being kept at CPS Kampala. Batte also run away.
It is believed that most builders in Kampala, who buy cement in big quantities, have tended to buy it from this location.
Manufacturers have also been seen delivering the cement directly to this location. What happens, however, is that immediately after delivery, the crafty traders do ‘surgery’ on the original product to make more profits.
“They pack it in Bamburi bags because it fetches more money on the market,†Nyeko said.
He said other bags of cement that were not interfered with were two to five kilogrammes less.
A check on the market revealed that although a 50kilogrammes bag of Tororo and Hima Cement stood at sh17,000 retail price, Bamburi was sh18,000.
Traders blamed manufacturers, who supply empty cement paper bags to their wholesale customers, in which to re-pack the torn cement bags. The issue now is which outlet should be trusted. “It is better to go to the manufacturers’ official distribution point or directly to the factory for original products,†Nyeko advised.
In case you are building, watch out for these crafty people or else your building becomes history.
Ends
Although many people blamed the tragedy on shoddy engineering works, many fingers pointed at possible substandard building materials and especially fake cement. One would also think that when such tragedies became common, whoever is tempering with the cement would stop after knowing that his or her actions were endangering people’s lives. Due to high public outcry, the Police decided to investigate the matter. On December 16, the Police raided one of the container shops at Goods Shade, a joint located on Entebbe Road near Queen ‘s Way roundabout.
The store men were parking ‘cement’ in what looked like genuine cement paper bags.
On one side of the container was a heap of well crushed and sieved whitish clay and the other side were heaps of lime and in another were heaps of genuine Hima cement, having unpacked it from its paper bags that lay on the floor. In the room were three men at work. Musa Ntagya, Akwanyi Sabiti and Charles Bate.
“The men were mixing the clay, lime and a bit of Hima Cement, which they later parked into paper bags bearing the label of Bamburi Cement,†narrated Oyo Nyeko, the Regional Police Commander for Kampala Extra. In one corner of the store lay 192 bags of ‘Bamburi Cement’, ready for the market. The police confiscated them and on testing it, it was the fake mixture of clay, lime and cement.
The container outlet, like many others in the place, bore no name but is said to have been there for a long time selling cement. Its owner, Lawrence Sajjabi, managed to elude the Police and slipped away.
“He is on the run but we shall get him. We shall charge him with counterfeiting,†vowed Tumwesigye, the Deputy Regional CID Officer, at CPS.
Ntagya and Sabiti were arrested and are being kept at CPS Kampala. Batte also run away.
It is believed that most builders in Kampala, who buy cement in big quantities, have tended to buy it from this location.
Manufacturers have also been seen delivering the cement directly to this location. What happens, however, is that immediately after delivery, the crafty traders do ‘surgery’ on the original product to make more profits.
“They pack it in Bamburi bags because it fetches more money on the market,†Nyeko said.
He said other bags of cement that were not interfered with were two to five kilogrammes less.
A check on the market revealed that although a 50kilogrammes bag of Tororo and Hima Cement stood at sh17,000 retail price, Bamburi was sh18,000.
Traders blamed manufacturers, who supply empty cement paper bags to their wholesale customers, in which to re-pack the torn cement bags. The issue now is which outlet should be trusted. “It is better to go to the manufacturers’ official distribution point or directly to the factory for original products,†Nyeko advised.
In case you are building, watch out for these crafty people or else your building becomes history.
Ends