Antigua & Barbuda to Go Metric
Antigua & Barbuda is presently seeking to lay the ground
work towards becoming a Metric Country. The legal framework has been put
in place that allows for the Bureau of Standards to be the forerunner
in this drive. Present plans include an Educational Awareness series on
the local television station (A.B.S.), which is to be hosted by Mr. Patrick
Lake during this year.
But, WHY GO METRIC?
Most people when first confronted with the need to acquire knowledge on
the International System (SI) are resistant. Usually this is due to lack
of knowledge of the system, which gives rise to fears of personal inadequacy.
Thus there is a need for education.
The following are some of the reasons why we, and any other country for
that matter, should endeavour to become “Metric”
1. Countries are going metric in accordance with national policy. In general,
world-wide industry has made this decision and is im- plementing it. Metrication
is inevitable.
2. If action is delayed, the cost of changing units will increase with
time.
3. Within a very short time most internal and external communications
in business, trade and science will be in SI.
4. The last of the large industrial nations, the USA, has made the decision
to go metric and already its industry is well on the way to metrication.
5. SI units form a coherent system: -
(a) Relationships between units are simpler.
(b) Unit acceleration is used to derive other unit quantities.
6. Education, industry and export particularly, will benefit by the introduction
of the new units.
7. The base unit of the measuring system (10) is the same as the base
of the counting system.
8. There is one table of prefixes, which applies to all units.
9. Calculations will be simpler and unnecessary units (e.g. calorie; horsepower)
will be abolished.
10. Many conversion factors will vanish, as relationships between the
units be come simpler and communications between different disciplines
will be made easier.
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