South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The South Sudan National Bureau of Standards (SSNBS) is unable to deliver on it’s mandate effectively due to underfunding by the government, according to it’s head Dr. Kuorwel Kuai Kuorwel.
Kourwel said the agency that is charged with ensuring imported and manufactured goods meet quality assurance standards, said staff employed at SSNBS are also unable to move across the country due to lack of enough vehicles for mobility.
“Sometime security will come or I will get a telephone call that there is an emergency and yet we don’t we don’t even Boda-Boda (motorcycle) to take our staff to any area where we are needed,” said Dr. Kuorwel during his reception ceremony on Tuesday.
He disclosed that they lack testing equipment in their laboratory.
Kuorwel replaces Mary Gordon Muortat who previously headed the SSNBS prior to her recent dismissal.
Kuorwel said it takes energy, adequate finance and human resource to build a meaningful bureau of standards in the country.
“You are sending an inspector to go to Konyo-Konyo or Gudele and inspect, and yet you don’t have the mobility to send that person, the business owner we are supposed to inspect will offer to carry our staff but what about the discussion that will take place in the car,” he asked.
Kourwel said that he is hoping for the Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Barnaba Bak Chol to support the bureau of standards to acquire necessary equipment and vehicles to facilitate their work.
He vowed to work hard to improve health, safety and security of the population and the protection of the environment.
“We are going to be doing our work in terms of inspections, we will be asking the private sector or whoever we are going to inspect to pay for inspection fees, and that means we will be collecting revenues,” said Kuorwel. The regulatory body was established to ensure imports meet requirements of the technical regulations and applicable standards to prevent importation of substandard goods
