GSB commemorates World Metrology Day

The Gambia Standards Bureau, in collaboration with the Weights and Measures Bureau, Tuesday joined the rest of the world in commemorating World Metrology Day on the theme: “Measurements and the global energy challenge”.

Speaking at the ceremony held at the SunSwing Hotel, Papa Secka, Director General of Gambia Standards Bureau, said World Metrology Day is commemorated throughout the world by the metrology community, who are involved one way or the other in the science of measurement.

In The Gambia, he added, it has always been conducted by the weights and measures bureau or under the Ministry of Trade, as well as other methods of metrology which are scientific metrology otherwise known as fundamental metrology and industrial metrology.

He said the bureau had set up the national metrology laboratory which maintains the standards of measurement in mass, temperature, degree Celsius and volume.

They also maintain reference standards at specific temperatures at all times at humidity level so that they maintain their levels of accuracy, which “is the highest in the country” just like any other national metrology laboratory or institute in other countries, he said.

The day was set aside to highlight the developments in metrology in all the branches mentioned but also to engage stakeholders on metrology issues and concerns so they could work together, he stated.

They also collaborate with their western measure colleagues of the Ministry of Trade, he went on, noting that the commemoration of the day started with radio talk shows but they have also engaged stakeholders in the industry and the public and private sectors, to be able to disseminate metrology issues across the country.

Ousman Bojang, representative of the Ministry of Trade, said that in their aim to improve and maintain quality infrastructure in The Gambia, the ministry of trade is working on a quality policy which aims at ensuring that all quality infrastructures are improved in the country for sustainable development.

He added that the policy was at the stage of drafting, and they had a validation and presently working on the cabinet approval of the document.

All those efforts, he noted, are geared towards ensuring that fair and free trade prevailed in the market, giving the importance of legal metrology and quality infrastructure.

The programme also supported 3 staff of the bureau to attend a training programme in Ghana on legal metrology capacity building to ensure the bureau was fully capacitised to run its activities, he added.