That crackdown on poor quality electrical products

Oct 13, 2019 News, The Story within the Story

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By Leonard Gildarie

On Friday, the Government announced that it is set to start a crackdown in February to ensure that products entering Guyana to be used mainly in the wiring of buildings have to meet standards.
This is major development that will impact not only on how Guyana avoids continuing being a dumping ground for poor quality products, but have the long-term effect of saving lives and properties.

Earlier this year, the Government announced that 31 new standards have been introduced for these products.
They include electrical wires, outlets, breakers and even those ‘fairy’ lights as we know it.
We will have to go back in time to understand how impacting this development will be on how we address issues facing this country.
For years, we have been importing almost everything. From food to clothing to electronics to cars.
The reasons are simple. We do not produce them. Even the food we produce, we seem to have a preference for imported ones. That is the story of the day. It will not change in a hurry.
In so doing, we have allowed products to slip into our country that do not meet the tests of quality and standards.
In fact, one can walk into any supermarket and see the varying qualities of products.
In quite a few of the countryside ones, you can pick up virtually anything, from plumbing supplies, to vodka.
In the back of supermarkets, there are all kinds of LED lights, and gadgets, and duplexes and of course, wires for homes and buildings.
For the latter group, there has been little monitoring over the years.
The containers are ordered and products land here.
Maybe the taxes are paid. However, there were little checks to ensure that these meet the requirements.
On Friday, the officials, who included Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Jaipaul Sharma, disclosed that come February, every product from the electrical area, that are included in the list of 31 products that land, will have to prove they have met the standards.
Failure will see the goods being seized and even prosecution.
The products that are in the supermarkets will not be allowed after February.
In fact, inspectors of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards will be visiting supermarkets, hardware stores and other distributors to ensure that the products in stock meet specifications.
Homeowners and other managers for properties have to now take care that what they are buying meet those standards.
The Guyana National Bureau of Standards will produce a list.
How many times have we heard of sudden fires caused by something electrical?
We may never know how many.
I have a problem with those sub-standard products on the shelves being given a deadline to be sold.
It is like saying, okay, you don’t have a licence to drive. Well, you are given a week to get one. You can drive in the meantime.
According to officials on Friday, home and property owners have the responsibilities to ensure that the approved products are purchased.
Poor quality wire can become brittle and even overheat after a while. These cause fire.
The problem for many homeowners is very evident.
Many persons who have taken mortgages would concentrate on the foundation and walls and ceiling and roof.
The electrical fittings and wiring are generally left for last.
Many times, that I know of, there is little money left for wiring.
On Friday, it was stressed that homeowners are not paying attention to overloading of outlets.
How many times do we overload one point by plugging TV, amplifiers, cable boxes and the list goes on?
The introduction of these new standards should form part of the campaign of fighting what we are consuming.
We see Food and Drugs now hosting workshops to speak on sub-standard quality of drugs entering Guyana.
For too long, we have allowed ourselves, partly because we like to be frugal, encourage businesses to stock cheap drugs.
We pay little attention to whether it meets specification. In fact, I would bet that many Guyanese would not even know what to look for.
In the last few years, we restricted the imports on vehicles older than eight years.
We have allowed duty-free concessions on electrical cars.
One of the benefits from these, is that Guyana will not cease becoming a dumping ground for gas-guzzling vehicles which do not meet environmental standards of developed countries.
There are a few who will disagree and they have been making money.
However, make no mistakes, the introduction of new standards is a clear message to all importers…ensure that your products meet standards.
We are not fully there yet, but it is the beginning.
I like what I am seeing.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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