BUJUMBURA, May 22nd (ABP) – On Monday 20 May 2024, the Burundi Bureau for Standardisation and Quality Control (BBN) organised ceremonies to celebrate World Metrology Day in Burundi, the 1st edition, under the theme “Sustainability”.
The Technical Director of Metrology at the BBN, Mr Firmin Bucumi, indicated that that theme was chosen because of its importance for various applications of metrology that are crucial for promoting a sustainable economy and environment on a global scale.
Those include measuring energy consumption in industry, buildings and transport, managing resources in agriculture and forestry, identifying sources of pollution and setting environmental protection targets, he said.
According to him, that world day recognises and celebrates the role of all those who work throughout the year in intergovernmental, regional and national metrology organisations and laboratories. To that end, Mr Bucumi emphasised that the celebration of World Metrology Day in Burundi is therefore an opportunity to call on all political and development stakeholders to work to promote metrology, by encouraging decisions for its development through the creation of a single national metrology structure, metrology schools, support for metrology research, the strengthening of the technical capacities of the structures currently in charge of metrology, and the improvement of metrology awareness and culture among the general public.
According to the BBN’s Technical Director of Metrology, metrology has an undeniable impact on everyday life, particularly in terms of production control, product conformity assessment, health assessment, consumer protection, fair trading, environmental quality and safety.
He added that the importance of metrology had led the State of Burundi, through the BBN, to strengthen its legislative framework by promulgating Law No. 1/03 of 4 January 2021 on the national system of standardisation, metrology, quality assurance and testing in order to comply with Community and international standards.
According to him, the BBN’s general management has seized that opportunity to point out that it is not indifferent to the quality control challenges now haunting our country. He cited the abusive consumption of locally-produced alcoholic beverages, conformity checks on construction materials and the calibration of measuring equipment.
According to Mr Bucumi, the BBN has carried out inspections in all the country’s provinces to check companies that import and sell construction materials, where it has found that some companies sell construction materials that do not comply with standards.
He recommended that traders selling construction materials should order materials such as concrete reinforcing bars, tubes and metal sheets that comply with standards, for the good of the population.
To that end, the BBN will be organising an exchange and awareness-raising meeting with the heads of companies that import and sell construction materials, with the aim of raising their awareness of the need to comply with standards, he announced.