Beware of substandard weighing scales, Minister warns farmers, consumers

Wants tough measures to stop substandard weighing scales

• Instructs Ministry Secretary to immediately start a joint work arrangement with the Weights and Measures Department to prevent use of substandard scales

By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama  

Substandard weighing machines and scales were being used by unscrupulous traders to the disadvantage of farmers and the consumer, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said addressing a discussion held at the Ministry yesterday.  

“Since most of the scales used for weighing are not up to proper standards, the Agriculture Ministry has decided to take stern action to stop the exploitation,” he said.  

The Minister mentioned that he would submit a proposal to the Cabinet to prepare a work order to stop the smuggling of substandard weighing scales that are used to exploit farmers as well as consumers across the country.  

He said that he had also instructed the Ministry Secretary to immediately start a joint work arrangement with the Weights and Measures Department to prevent the use of these substandard scales.  

Generally, all scales should be subject to inspection and approval once a year with the Weights and Measures Division at the District Secretariat.  

However, the Minister said that it had been brought to his notice that many of the scales in use in the country were not registered or not subjected to proper inspection and approval by the Weights and Measures Division.  

The meeting was held following an allegation by farmers that fertilizer bags did not weigh as marked.   

“As the farmers alleged, a bag of urea fertilizer given by an Agricultural Service Centre in the Bulathsinhala area did not have proper weight,” he said.  

“The Police had intervened and weighed it with an authenticated scale, but found the weight was correct,” he said.  

Minister Amaraweera said that many traders weighed the crops using “hanging bow” scales.  

“The majority of these scales are not of proper quality, so the traders are using the defective scale to cheat and exploit farmers,” he said.  

“Even if one cheated two kilograms of each farmer’s product using doctored scales, a lot of money can be made from the farmers all over the island daily,” he charged.    

• All scales should be subject to inspection and approval once a year with the Weights and Measures Division at the District Secretariat