The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBs) has announced plans to develop an ultra-modern laboratory, calibration and testing facility in Nakuru County.
KEBs’ Chief Executive Officer Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Bernard Njiraini revealed plans and said the facility aims to reduce turnaround time for testing and associated costs as samples will be tested locally instead of being ferried to Nairobi.
“With the premises, the Rift Valley region will have goods and services that meet the global set standards. As part of advocacy and capacity building efforts, KEBs will also use the proposed facility to train small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on standards and certification, to increase their compliance levels and enhance chances of getting their products certified upon submission of samples,” said the CEO.
Features of the building
The premises will be equipped with four laboratories including Food and Agriculture, Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Instrumentation. The proposed laboratories are expected to offer testing, metrology, and calibration services to the industries in Rift Valley region including textiles, construction, dairy water purification and bottling, tea factories, grains and cereals, sugar, animal feeds, fertilizers and the hospitality sector among others.
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.
Lt Col (Rtd) Njiraini affirmed that KEBs was committed to ensuring high quality of products and services in all sectors of the economy for the realization of Vision 2030. Governor Kinyanjui on his part acknowledged that the facility will hasten issuance of Standardization Mark to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), within the devolved unit and over 14 other counties in the region.
