UNBS impounds fake steel bars on market
According to UNBS, the operation is aimed at eliminating substandard steel products. PHOTO/HANDOUT
What you need to know:
- Last year, UNBS destroyed 48 metric tonnes of substandard goods worth Shs950 million.
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) during an operation on Monday impounded substandard steel bars worth Shs650m, a move that has been welcomed by Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA).
Mr Daniel Birungi, the executive director of UMA, yesterday said manufacturers of steel bars had three weeks ago complained about substandard steel bars that had infiltrated the local market.
“Three weeks ago, we sat with UNBS and agreed that those that are seized are destroyed or sold as scrap. All the manufacturers of Steel bars agreed to this,” he said.
Mr Birungi said since the substandard steel bars have been seized UNBS should be supported to carry out more surveillance.
Ms Slyvia Kirabo, the senior principal public relations officer at UNBS, said during their operations in Nakawa and Kawempe divisions of Kampala on Monday, they impounded 165 tonnes of substandard steel bars, hollow sections, chain links and barbed wires in different hardware outlets.
“At Kawempe Division, we recovered 150 tonnes of TMT Steel bars, hollow sections, chain links and barbed wire valued at Shs600m in three hardware outlets in Matugga that have since been sealed off,” she said.
She added that in Nakawa Division, they recovered 15,351 tonnes of reinforcement steel bars and hollow sections valued at Shs33.7 million in areas of Kitintale, Mutungo, Mbuya and Kinawataka.
Ms Kirabo said the countrywide operation, which started on Monday with spot checks in different hardware shops of authorised agents of building materials, targets all construction materials; cement, iron bars and iron sheets.
“We found steel reinforcement bars with shorter length and smaller diameters. The public has been complaining about underweight cement and attributing the collapse of building to substandard building materials [on market]. We are trying to ascertain this,” she said.
Last year, UNBS destroyed 48 metric tonnes of substandard goods worth Shs950 million.
The bureau’s executive director, Mr David Livingstone Ebiru, said the destruction happened in the last six months.
