Farmers in Uasin Gishu County have been urged to make use of the weighbridges, especially during this season when most of them have begun harvesting their cereals.
According to the County’s Department of Trade and Industrialization, the weights and measures section has at least 52 calibrated weighbridges spread across the county to provide farmers with standardized units to realize fair trade.
And even as the department is advising farmers to utilize these facilities, it has also called on them to be wary of their commodity rights further cautioning them from swindlers.
Speaking on Monday, during an impromptu visit to Lomfam, Farmers and Beliomo weighbridges as well as Quick Fill fuel station, Acting Chief Officer for Trade and Industrialization Kipleting Mengich said it is a requirement for weighbridges traders to have annual verification stamps in their machines for them to be allowed to carry out the weighing business especially for cereal traders not to be ripped off.
Mengich called on traders not to interfere with the machines once they have been calibrated so that both parties can get what is rightfully theirs.
“I’m encouraging our staff at the sub-county level to be more vigilant whenever they come across traders with round spring balance to report the matter to trade offices for action before our farmers are swindled,” he said.
Quantity of produce
Phillip Naibei, the County officer in charge of weights and measures, highlighted the importance of every producer owning a weighing machine saying it helps in knowing the quantity of the produce.
He further challenged farmers to frequently consult on matters of scale that do not have weights and measures stamps.
Naibei advised farmers to discourage the use of a round spring balance commonly used by traders noting that it is not allowed for trade because it is easy to be manipulated and cannot give true values as expected.
Cartels are all over. even in those wieghbridges