When UNBS destroyed tonnes of substandard goods

QUALITY | UNBS

The recent quality campaigns carried out by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) culminated into a mass destruction of goods  worth about sh900m at Luwero Industries in Nakasongola.

The quality campaigns have been going on in markets, warehouses, shops and factories under the watch of the UNBS market surveillance team and the criminal investigations department of Police.

UNBS mainly targeted substandard, fake and expired goods.

These included 500 pieces of iron sheets, more than 500 mattresses, 3000 kilograms of cement, undergarments, cosmetics, food stuff, sanitary ware, electronics, second-hand clothing, other building materials, weighing machines, among others.

The UNBS deputy executive director in charge of compliance, John Paul Musimani said the destruction is part of UNBS efforts to protect consumers from dangerous substandard products.

"Such products are not only dangerous to the health and wellbeing of consumers, but are also a threat to the economic development of our country. So such operations are continuous. We still have more seized products in our stores pending court hearings and rulings then we shall destroy them while making the culprits to pay government fines," said Musimani.

He added that the culprits should stand warned because they will not only lose their products, but also pay fines which will help government in destroying the same seized products.

Engineer Vincent Ochwo (pictured), the principal surveillence Officer of UNBS, was at the scene and addressed reporters during  the destruction of the confiscated goods.