TBS calls on other govt agencies to educate public on their functions.

The Guardian: Friday 19, June 2009
By Correspondent; Gadiosa Lamtey

The Tanzania Bureau of Standard (TBS) has called on each government agency dealing with control and management of good to educate the public on its functions.

The call was made on Wednesday by TBS Head Marketing Unit Daudi Mbaga at the on-going Africa Public Services Week being held at the Mnazi mmoja ground in Dar es Salaam.

He was responding to questions from the public that several government agencies were duplicating duties.

“People are confusing between TBS duties with those done by other government agencies such as the Fair Competition Commission and Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority, but we are operating different constitutional establishments,” he said.

Mbaga called on people to view all agencies as important because all were created as per respective laws and have the force of law to operate.

“The public should not misunderstand our roles. We all target to reach at one specific point and that is quality of goods for the consumer and for the betterment of the nation,” he said.

He said there had been several questions from the public in regard to counterfeit products as many people think that it is only TBS which deals with the issue.

Mbaga called on the public to use the week as a way of learning different issues that have been perturbing them regarding the functionality of government agencies.

Meanwhile Fair Competition Commission Head of Consumer Complaints and Education Department Martha Kisyombe said that counterfeit products worth 1.6bn/- had been destroyed since the commission was established in 2007.

She said FCC would continue to destroy fake products whenever they are found.

She called on the public to report once they suspect that a certain product is fake.

Kisyombe added that FCC was aimed at reducing counterfeit products to ensure that all imported goods meet required quality and standards.

The Africa Public Services Week which started on Monday this week involves more than 160 government institutions and other institutions from some other African countries.

The decision to have public service day was reached by the ministers of Africa responsible for public service who met in Windhoek Namibia in 2000.

The African public day is celebrated at the continental level in one of the African countries once every two years.