During the meeting, Ronald Ahimbisibwe, the Principal Certification Officer and Head Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development at UNBS explained they briefed the association leaders early this year on the requirements and they were expected to send the message to their members.
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has given Lira
Maize millers a 3 week Ultimatum to register their businesses. It follows an operation conducted by
the standards body on Thursday and Friday last week, which led to the closure of over
25 maize mills for alleged failure
to comply with the quality assurance standards.
Following the operation, the
aggrieved maize millers under
Lira Small-Scale Industries Association Limited (LSSIA) petitioned Lira City
authorities for intervention
into the matter on grounds that UNBS did not notify them on what
they ought to do before closing their businesses. This prompted, Lawrence Egole, the Lira Resident City Commissioner to convene
a meeting between UNBS and the millers on Monday.
During the meeting, Ronald Ahimbisibwe, the
Principal Certification Officer and Head Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development at UNBS explained they briefed the association leaders early this year on the requirements and they were expected to send
the message to their members. He,
however, said that they would reopen
the affected mills on grounds that the owners start the registration process.
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Emmanuel Akeny, the Chairperson Lango Millers
Association complained that the
three week’s period given to them is insufficient.
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Raship Opio, a miller whose business premise was also sealed, says there is need for more sensitization
on the standards.
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Lawrence Egole, the Lira RCC who acknowledged the
fact that the Country is recovering from the local down advised the businessmen
to ensure the best quality products go out to the market.
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Sylvia Kirabo, the UNBS Public Relations Officer reiterated the
need for every
miller to register with the
bureau and secure the
Quality Mark.
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The other measures include ensuring that the
business premises, milling equipment, and stores are regularly cleaned and records
kept.
They also require the millers to ensure
that there is no foreign matter such as stones, wooden particles, hair, or nails
in the flour but the millers who were put under seal were found not to be
following those guidelines.
Although following the closure of their premises,
some millers started the registration process and UNBS went ahead to unseal
them.
