Inspection of the fuel pumps at the gas station in Saba.
SABA--Four employees of the public entity Saba took part in a weights and measurements training facilitated by Henk Bartels of the Dutch Radio Communications Agency (“Agentschap Telecom”). Last week’s training combined theory with practical sessions in which participants were able to visit a number of locations in Saba that use weighing scales, and the fuel pumps at the gas station.
As part of the practical part of the training, participants Jerome Matthew, Philbert Ryner, Jonas Charles and Roelof Matthew, together with Bartels and the public entity’s policy advisor for economic affairs Courtney Hassell, paid visits to a number of establishments to check weighing and measuring equipment. Visited were the supermarkets and a few other businesses that use scales, such as the waste facility, the baby clinic, airport, hospital, the gas station and the cooking gas filling location.
The Calibration Act BES 2014 (“IJkwet BES”) prescribes that all weighing and measuring equipment used to determine a price and used for trade or medical application has to be inspected regularly to make sure that it measures and weighs correctly. This creates a fair playing field for entrepreneurs and protects consumers.
New weighing and measuring equipment always has to be inspected and approved first before it is put into use. An instrument that has been inspected and approved receives a green sticker, usually placed in such a manner that consumers can see it.
Fuel pump inspection at Tackling gas station in Cole Bay, St. Maarten. (John Halley photo)
With four inspectors having completed the training and after their formal appointment by government, the objective is to have regular inspections of the weight-and-measuring equipment in Saba.
The Radio Communications Agency will keep providing support and trainings. The agency was in Saba for a training in 2018 and three persons from Saba went to the Netherlands in 2019 for a training there.
This week’s training was a refresher course for Jerome Matthew, Charles and Ryner, as they had taken part in earlier trainings. At the end of the training on Thursday, October 6, each participant received a certificate.
The Radio Communications Agency also visited St. Eustatius last week, where five new inspectors completed their training. Bartels also visited St. Maarten for training and gas-station inspections.
