By Stephen V. Lansana
The Deputy Director of Budget, Ministry of Finance (MoF), Jacob Tenga Sessie on Monday, August 26, 2024, urged the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau (SLSB) to develop standardized measurements for rice and other food items.
He made this comment during the bilateral budget discussions with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) which is organized by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED) in Freetown.
The Bilateral budget discussions which commenced on Monday, August 19, will end on Friday, August 30, 2024. The budget hearing was well attended by stakeholders in the country, like MoPED, the Ministry of Finance, District Budget Oversight Committees, Civil Society Organizations, and the Media, among others.
He said that the standardization of measurement in the various markets is essential, adding that if a person goes to Abacha Street market and buys a cup of rice, the cup they used to measure is different from the one at Dove’s Cot. “People are cheated,” he emphasized. “But you have this unit of measurement as a core which has been your deliverable for several years and up till now, we are still having issues with it in the various markets.”
He told officials of SLSB to capture as a deliverable the production of at least 5, 000 or a million standardized measuring cups for measuring rice, adding that these basic things they should achieve.
“If you achieve the deliverable for standardized cup in the markets, especially for rice, everyone will clap for you because it is our staple food which we are cheated,” he added.
He acknowledged that SLSB is doing well in delivering on its mandates, but pleaded with them to come up with a unit of measurement in the market.
Responding to the concern on standardization on the unit of measurement, the Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau (SLSB), Dr. John Paul Kaisam assured that immediately after the rains, they are going to roll out a metric system to the general trade and commerce, adding that they have closed to 8, 000 measuring cups which are in store and they would be rolled out after the rains. “Next year will a different,” he said.
He disclosed that they don’t have vehicles to go out on monitoring, but assured that if they are supported they will do great things.
Highlighting the challenges, in 2024, he explained that the Standards Bureau is challenged with the extension of the Bureau to the provinces and major points to increase visibility, adding that the rollout of the Metric system of measurements and the rollout of the Management System Certification programme are also challenging.
He added that the accreditation of testing, Calibration Laboratories, Product Certification, and expansion of the management system Certification on Chemical and Chemical products are some of the challenges.