SLBS Reflects on Saint Lucia's Transition to Full Metrication
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Contact: Adhara King
Monday, April 7, 2008 – As a new metrication board undertakes its work to meet an EU December 2009 changeover deadline, officials have been reflecting on St. Lucia’s road to full metrication.
That road, officials say, has been a long winding one with the establishment and re-establishment of metrication boards and committees over a period of 30 years.
St. Lucia took its first step towards metrication when the first metrication committee was established in 1978. The major accomplishment of the committee was the metrication of the education system. Officials however say the commercial sector continued to utilise the imperial system because of a lack of legislation supporting the move to the metric system.
Anselm Gittens, Head of the Metrology Department of the St. Lucia Bureau of Standards explains that it was in fact illegal for the commercial sector at that time to conduct business in metric units.
“At that time in St. Lucia, the law in place was the Weights and Measures Ordinance of 1911 and that was based on the old imperial law, and it made no provision for metric units. Even if officially at that time the country said it metricated, it was illegal for the commercial sector to actually use metric units; therefore that effort didn't have the impact it was supposed to have,” said Gittens.
In 2001, an interim metrication committee was established to investigate the status of laws governing systems of measurement. Another Metrication Board established in 2005 observed that public sector representatives by far outnumbered those of the private sector, and it was recommended by a consultant that the board's composition be reviewed.
Minister for Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Senator the Honourable Guy Mayers says St. Lucia's transition to the metric system is a necessary move for competitiveness on the international trade market. “The European Union has signalled its intention to conduct trade solely in metric units, and the emergence of the system as the international standard of measurement gives it greater relevance in the context of regional and international trading agreements such as the CSME and the WTO. To not metricate therefore, is tantamount to erecting a barrier on trade against our own selves.”
The Metrication Board launched on April 2, 2008 is comprised of members of the private and public sectors, who are equipped to guide the process of this transition within their respective industries.
The Board is chaired by Hubert James of the National Consumers Association. There are ten additional members on the board including representatives from the government's Planning Department and the private sector's utility, fuel, transport, communications, manufacturing, retail, wholesale, and distribution industries. |
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