Dear Sir,
This is in reference to the report “Concern on mislabelling weight of products” (Gulf Times, September 10).
As part of my work in the purchase section of companies, I have often noticed huge differences in the actual and invoice measurements of things that are bought.
While one buys 50.8mm x 50.8mm x 4,000mm  wood plank, one often will get only 40mm x 40mm x 3,980mm wood or less. Almost 36% less!
When people buy polyethylene sheet or any such materials,  their length and width shall be less than they are mentioned in the invoice.
If one buys four kilos of nails or binding wires, the customer will not get more than 3.2 kilos of the item. 
In cases, some international traders offer you materials at discount, their weights and measurements would often be less than promised. 
Fraud involving  containers’ weight and size is common. If we question the suppliers, the response is: “That is the present market practice.” 
It means cheating is the “present market practice”!

ET
(Full name and address supplied)

Nuclear concern

Dear Sir,

The increasing proliferation of nuclear warheads is a huge concern. North Korea said on Friday that it conducted its fifth and potentially most powerful nuclear test, claiming to have successfully detonated a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on ballistic rockets. This ratchets up tensions in Korean Peninsula.
The UN Security Council strongly condemned North Korea’s nuclear test, saying it would immediately begin consultations on further “appropriate measures”.
While economic sanctions can deter  such actions to some extent, the priority should be in tackling the primary reason why North Korea has been investing so much in acquiring nuclear capabilities.
The United Nations has not been entirely successful in preventing nuclear proliferation and it should do more.

Ramachandran Nair 
(Address supplied)


Disaster in the air

Dear Sir,

The crash of EK521 was probably caused by windshear, among other factors. Windshear, also called microbursts by scientists, is insidious like a shark; they are explosive downdrafts, often invisible to the eye, as little as a mile in diameter, that cause an airplane to lose flying speed.
More than 500 fatalities and  200 injuries have resulted from windshear crashes involving 26 aircraft between 1964 and 1985. Pilots need 10-40 seconds of warning to avoid windshear, by taking evasive action.
Windshear almost invariably results in a stall, particularly when it occurs close to ground level where air movement is wildly disrupted  by ground effect. The physics of a severe ground windshear is silent, invisible, frightening and almost impossible for a pilot to react positively in time. It is, by nature, insidious and rarely predictable.
Accident investigators have long suspected windshear as a probable cause of hundreds of otherwise unexplained general aviation accidents.Without evidence to the contrary,investigators are left with the stereotype probable causes like pilot error.

Farouk Araie
farouk.araie@telkomsa.net