No equipment to screen radioactive cars - UNBS
NBS expects by the end of this month to acquire some machines that can detect radioactive elements.
What you need to know:
Recent reports indicate that cars infected with radioactive elements are being sold on the Ugandan market.
The government has up-to-date failed to provide funds for the standards body to acquire equipment which can be used to stop radiation affected cars from entering Uganda, according to Dr Ben Mayindo, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards acting executive director.
In an interview with Daily Monitor, Dr Mayindo said while UNBS was aware of the possibility of cars with radioactive elements entering the country, there is little the agency can do due to the absence of recommended testing equipment and government’s failure to avail funds.
“Importers tell us their cars were inspected. But we can’t confirm this independently because we do not have testing equipment,” he said.
He added: “After the Japanese Tsunami, many of the cars that got in contact with radioactive elements were dismantled into spare parts. Such parts have found way onto our market.”
“We need to have testing equipment at every border point and here at the head office. Each machine goes for about Shs35 million. This is little money for government to protect its citizens,” Dr Manyindo said.
The 2011 floods in Japan led to an explosion of a nuclear plant, emitting radiation rays which affected lives and properties in at least a radius of 50 kilometers within the plant’s range.
Cars in this range were affected by radioactive elements a substance that increase one’s probability of suffering from cancer. Dr Mayindo’s revelation comes a few days after this newspaper reported that car dealers were selling vehicles contaminated by radioactive elements following the Japanese earthquake and Tsunami last year.
Last week Mr Ryo Tokunaga, the head of economic cooperation at the Japanese Embassy, told this newspaper that the Ugandan government had a responsibility to screen all radioactive cars.
“In Japan, the government put in place tight regulations on cars from the region where the explosions occurred. Thus it remains the responsibility of the Ugandan government to screen all cars coming into the country,” he said.
