Key projects ignore quality standards

RIYADH: The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) has said that government organizations working on vital projects were ignoring national quality standards and did not keep the organization in loop while adopting these projects, according to an online newspaper.
SASO was referring to projects, like those of railways and the metro, as well as the government organizations working on them.
In its report for the year 1436/37H, the organization talked about these weaknesses, urging them to activate Article 6 of the rules of the organization which calls for making it mandatory for all public and private sector organizations to abide by the quality standards of the Kingdom in all their purchases and works.
It said that maintaining quality standards was one of the major components of the nation’s economic growth, strengthening the competitiveness of national industries. It said that all public and private sector organizations should implement Saudi quality standards.
The SASO report has also said that there was negligence by the monitoring departments of public sector organizations in this regard.
SASO was established under Royal Decree M/10 on 03/03/1392H as a body and an independent authority with an independent budget. It is headed by the minister of commerce and industry. It is one of the first purely technical governmental bodies.
It governs the organizational and executive tasks related to standards, metrology and quality, including laying down and accrediting Saudi standards of goods, products and services, measurement and calibration bodies, and procedures of conformity evaluation and certification.
In any project carried out either by public sector organizations or private companies, the role of SASO is vital before they become operational.