The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) in a statement on Friday revealed that it does not have the capacity to calibrate and verify breathalyser kits and speed guns currently being used by the police force.
The GNBS is now making efforts to source the relevant equipment to calibrate the devices and they hope that everything will be in place by 2021.
When contacted, Public Relations Officer for GNBS, Lloyd David, clarified that for the first year or two years, these devices do not need calibration since it comes with a calibration certificate, which is valid for that time frame. But once that certificate expires, the results from the speed guns and the breathalyser kits are not valid.
It is unclear at this time how many devices are being used by the police force with an expired certificate since no survey was ever done by the GNBS.
“…we check on the other instruments but not that [speed guns and breathalyser kits], we just provide the training to the police force and we are working on capacity to offer the calibration and verification service to them,” David said.
For the breathalyser kits and speed guns, David explained that GNBS would first have to know what brands the police are using in order to procure the equipment.
“It is a whole process. We need to examine the brands of breathalysers used by the police force and we need to find the appropriate calibration device to deal with those guns and breathalysers specifically,” David said.
The GNBS in its statement urged “road users to avoid drinking and driving and speeding on our roadways, especially during this holiday season.
