In a bid to ensure that roads are protected and maintained, the Kenya Accreditation Service (KENAS) has accredited Interways Workers Limited to help in offering crucial inspection services at the Webuye weighbridge in Bungoma County.
Interways Works Limited will manage, operate and maintain the Webuye weighbridge station and 1519 kilometres of adjacent road networks.
Speaking in Webuye on Saturday during the handing over of the accreditation certificate for Interways, Walter Juma, CEO of Kenya Accreditation Service, applauded Interways for applying for the certification for inspection at the Bungoma-based weighbridge.
Juma said that the inspection body accreditation is a means of determining the technical competence, independence and impartiality of organisations that carry out specific inspection activities adding that inspection is an essential part of ensuring the operational safety of the roads that the public use daily.
“Inspection allows safety aspects to be critically examined and the risk of accidents to be reduced,” Juma said.
“This is a great milestone as our certification will help in monitoring truckers passing here to Uganda and other neighbouring countries to ensure that the capacity they are carrying is accepted by the Kenyan laws and that of the East Africa Community (EAC)."
He pointed out that the certification process by the Kenya Accreditation Service begins with application, training and assessment.
Further, he said that the main purpose of accrediting the Interways works is to inspect and monitor truckers' overloading.
He noted that other accreditation schemes include; medical, testing, calibration, veterinary laboratories and certification bodies.
Vincent Gakumu, General Manager, of Interways Works Ltd, told the media that the organisation was registered in 2012 adding that it has been maintaining weighbridges and other activities in the country.
In addition, he said the accreditation of the organisation will help to ensure that the equipment and the people employed at the weigh bridge follow the correct standards recommended internationally.
Gakumu reports that the organisation is working closely with the Kenya Highways Authority (KeNHA) and the police to ensure that those found bridging the set laws are dealt with according to the law.
“We have been given the instructions by the road owners, KeNHA, to follow the set standard, if law offenders are found they are arrested and produced in court,” Gakumu noted.
Also present were Abraham Wekesa, Manager, Inspection and Verification, Kenya Accreditation Service.