The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) recently said that its Product Compliance Department seized and destroyed 1,660 pieces of substandard electrical fittings and equipment including wires, cables, lamp holders, circuit breakers, extension cords, power outlets, receptacles, knife switches and plugs.
In its July 23, 2024 issue, the Stabroek News published a story ‘Sub-standard electrical fittings, equipment seized and destroyed,’ in which it related the matter of the seizure and disposal by the Guyana National Bureau of 1,660 pieces of substandard electrical fittings and equipment including wires, cables, lamp holders, circuit breakers, extension cords, power outlets, receptacles, knife switches and plugs by the entity’s Product Compliance Department.
An informant, who is no longer employed by the company whose goods he said were part of the bigger consignment seized by the GNBS, told the Stabroek Business that the seizure represented the tip of the proverbial iceberg that amounts to many millions of dollars of imported sub-standard electrical fittings and other equipment being fed to a rapidly expanding building sector in which he claimed that ‘corners’ were being ‘cut’ and investors (including the state sector) were being short-changed.
While our informant could provide no hard evidence of state projects attracting sub-standard inventory, he asserted that since some of the largest projects were being financed by the state and executed by private contractors there was ‘every reason to believe’ that some of the faulty/sub- standard was being channeled to these projects. While our informant also confirmed that the GNBS was involved in monitoring these imports in order to determine quality, the view was expressed that it was likely that much of a faulty inventory was likely to have escaped the attention of the GNBS.
Beyond these comments our informant opined that it would be “difficult if not impossible” for a reliable quality standards regime to be guaranteed without the support of functionaries operating in both the public and private sectors. Asked to offer an opinion on the extent to which the authorities were ‘winning the battle’ against sub-standard inventory for use in the construction sector, the Stabroek Business’ informant said that it was “difficult to tell” since “not all of these imports are necessarily subject to inspection by the competent authorities” before being moved to worksites.
