The verification of scales and measuring equipment for trade purposes can help to avoid accidents, especially in the construction sector, as well as prevent fraud in transactions between traders and consumers.

Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Datuk Rosol Wahid in a statement yesterday said the failure by traders, operators and construction developers to verify such equipment for trade activities constituted an offence punishable under the Weights and Measures Act 1972.

"In today's world of advanced technology, all kinds of scams can happen. The same goes for fraud in weighing and measuring instruments.

"In construction work, for example, the failure of contractors or developers to get verified weighing equipment installed at concrete batching plants used to produce concrete grades in construction work can affect the stability of the structure," he said after a working visit to Metrology Corporation Malaysia Sdn Bhd (MCM), a government concessionaire for the verification and re-verification of weighing and measuring equipment in the Mukim Batu Industrial Area yesterday.

-- BERNAMA