20% fuel dispensers in Kigali City defective

Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) has discovered that 20 per cent of fuel dispensers in the city are faulty. The faults were exposed in the on-going operation to crackdown on substandard weights and measures that the bureau launched recently. There were registered complaints that weights and measures in the country were being tampered with to cheat unsuspecting consumers. Kigali alone has about 330 fuel dispensers and at least 300 had been inspected by RBS by press time. RBS found 60 dispensers faulty—meaning they were giving less fuel. Patrice Ntiyamira, Director of Metrology RBS said the team found 80 per cent (about 240) of the dispensers were in tolerable range. According RBS, they had minimum errors of either under and over delivery of fuel. The inspection team from RBS started the exercise last month with Kigali City. All the fuel dispensers inspected are verified, adjustments made and then fixed with RBS seals. Pump gears are then stamped.Ntiyamira explained that punitive measures were not taken against fuel station owners whose dispersers were faulty saying this is the first ever inspection made. “This was also because there was no prove that the dispenser was tampered intentionally or out of ignorance because some were over delivering,” he explained why they did not prosecuted. A follow up will be made after every six month to check if the seals are still intact. “It’s so easy to recognize that some one tampered with the seal. These seals can’t be bought in the region. We got them from Germany and we have an agreement with the company that they would first call us before selling the seal to Rwandans,” he said. The inspection is expected to cover 500 fuel dispensers across the country. After Kigali City, RBS targets to inspect petrol stations in Southern, Northern and Eastern Provinces. Ends

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20% fuel dispensers in Kigali City defective