The staff of Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) have donated UGX20,882,000 Shillings to the National Covid-19 taskforce to aid the fight against Coronavirus in the country.
The donation delivered by UNBS Executive Director, Dr. Ben Manyindo together with staff representatives on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, was received by the National COVID-19 taskforce head, Mary Karooro Okurut, together with the chairperson of the COVID-19 fundraising drive, Eng. Emmanuel Katongole and other members of the same, at the OPM offices in Kampala.
“UNBS staff appreciate the efforts by the National COVID-19 Task Force towards the fight against COVID-19 and extend their commitment to continue supporting this cause in ensuring that we stand together to fight off COVID-19 in Uganda.’ said Manyindo.
Okurut thanked UNBS for the donation and for keeping up the standards.
Eng. Katongole also lauded UNBS staff for the kind gesture of setting aside part of their salaries to contribute to the fight against the coronavirus in Uganda.
The donation is one of the contributions made by the Standards body, in addition to the facemask standards, sanitiser standards, disinfectant standards as well as technical guidance offered to local manufacturers to increase the production of quality and safe face masks and sanitizers in the wake of COVID-19.
The frequent use of masks and sanitizers is one of the measures put forward by government to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and as such, UNBS prioritized certification of sanitizer manufacturing companies, which saw them increase from 11 companies as at April 1, 2020 to 38 companies producing 43 brands of sanitizers as at April 17, 2020.
UNBS is also at the forefront of ensuring quality of COVID-19 relief food procured and donated.
“As of May 5, 2020, close to 4000 metric tonnes of beans and close to 6000 metric tonnes of maize flour have been checked by UNBS; 72% of the maize flour and 73% of the beans complied to the standards while 28% of maize flour and 27% of beans failed to meet the standards.” Said Manyindo
The News Editor ,Reporter at Kagadi Kibaale community Radio
