• KEBS launch ultramodern Lake region office in Kisumu. The facility will serve Kisumu, Siaya, Busia, Kakamega, Vihiga, Homa Bay, Kisii, Nyamira, Migori, parts of Bomet and parts of Nandi counties.
Image: MAURICE ALAL
More than 780 micro small and medium enterprises are set to benefit from the new ultramodern Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Lake regional headquarters in Kisumu.
Acting managing director, KEBS, Bernard Njiraini said the newly launched office will ensure that the region receives adequate support and assistance in all KEBS programs.
This, he said, will enhance proper service delivery, particularly in educational institutions and industries.
Njiraini accompanied by the National Standards Council (NSC) Chairman Ken Wahome spoke on Tuesday.
The new facility, he said, not only houses the KEBS regional offices but is also equipped with four laboratories including Food and Agriculture, Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Instrumentation.
Njiraini said the new office will also promote the export of fish and fishery products through product certification.
“This will be done through investing in requisite resources and infrastructure for standards development, conformity assessment, testing, and metrology,” he said.
Njiraini assured that the institution is committed to promoting standardisation in industry and trade at the county level.
The facility will serve Kisumu, Siaya, Busia, Kakamega, Vihiga, Homa Bay, Kisii, Nyamira, Migori, parts of Bomet and parts of Nandi counties.
Njiraini noted that they have put measures in place to ascertain the quality of products manufactured in the lake region.
“The objective is to wipe out fake goods from entering our market through the borders Busia and Isebania borders,’ he said.
With the new premise, Njiraini said, the region will have goods and services that meet the global set standards.
The laboratories will offer testing, metrology, and calibration services to the Lake Region industries including fishing and fisheries, water purification and bottling, tea factories, grains and cereals, sugar, animal feeds, fertilizers and the hospitality sector.
Some of the activities to be carried out at the facility include facilitation of the export of fish and fishery products through testing and product certification; Facilitation of ISO Management system training and certification to educational institutions and industry in the Lake region.
Others are calibration of road construction equipment for road contractors as well as precision equipment in the industry and scientific institutions as well as quality control and product certification in the water packaging and food industries.
Wahome said they focused on the quality of products and services in all sectors of the economy for the realisation Vision 2030.
The KEBS Lake region offices were first opened in 1995 in Milimani area. The office later moved to Kenya Ports Authority premises where it was housed until the completion of KEBS regional laboratories and offices in Kisumu in September 2017.
The number of staff has grown from eight to more than 62 presently. The region has five offices in Kisii, Isebania, Kisumu Pier, Kisumu, and Busia port.
Lake region manager Jacqueline Kangiri said they plan to open up an office in Mbita to improve its efficiency in service delivery.
Kangiri said the availability of quality assurance, market surveillance, import inspection, metrology and testing services in the region will help ensure standardised products and services.
Ends…