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The Zambia Metrology Agency (ZMA) has noted an increase in consumer complaints in practices surrounding the sale of roofing sheets in the country.
Agency Executive Director, Humphrey Nkobeni, said most buyers are alleging to have received roofing sheets, which were thinner than what they paid for.
Giving an update on the performance of the Agency for the year 2023, in Lusaka, on Wednesday, Nkobeni revealed that the compliance in the sector stood at 87 percent.
He said that all roofing sheets on sale on the market should be properly labelled, indicating detailed information on dimensions, thickness, length and width.
“Last year, the Agency continued to provide measurement technical support to the construction sector through calibrations during constructions of key infrastructure such as roads and bridges,” Nkobeni said.
He added that the agency noted a drop in the number of complaints in the petroleum sub-sector due to improved compliance among players.
Nkobeni said the Agency, however, noted some persistent non-compliances in the sub-sector and appealed to stakeholders to be on the lookout for the use of unapproved and unverified measurement instruments.
“Stakeholders should be on the lookout for poor installation of measurements systems at Oil Marketing Companies fuel depots. A mismatch of bulk flow meters, pipe network and pumping unit can cause serious measurement discrepancies,” he advised
Nkobeni emphasized the need for people to look out for manual capturing of temperature and density, which can lead to manipulation of figures used to calculate volumes delivered and inconsistencies in the measurement technique.
He added that people should look out for the use of two or more measurement techniques with varying accuracy limits that can adversely affect the consistency of volume determination and lead to disputes.
“The Agency recieved a combine 39 consumer industry complaints mainly from petroleum, manufacturing, construction and agriculture and these complaints coupled with our planned inspections led to 26 enforcement actions, resulting in some products seizures, caution and fines,” Nkobeni revealed.
He claimed that in 2023, the Agency achieved outstanding performances by exceeding its annual targets and surpassing previous year on year comparisons in key performance parameters, including non tax revenue, statutory verifications and compliance inspections.
Nkobeni disclosed that the Agency in 2023, undertook 51, 708 statutory verifications or certification of measuring instruments for accuracy and reliability, a significant increase from 37, 780 verifications in the previous year, representing a 37 percent increase.
“Further, this performance was 19 percent above the set target of 43, 404 for the year 2023,” he said.
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