Manufacturers of various products in Africa have continued to engage in Hide-and-Seek game with the authorities as a result of the poor quality of the finished products they keep dumping in the markets. From Cape to Cairo, Banjul to Asmara, the story remains the same.
The Organization in charge of maintaining the standards of manufactured materials in Africa, ASO, has directed national organizations to clamp down on poor quality goods in their domains. It is the clarion call to protect innocent consumers from the devilish manipulations of producers of fake goods touted as “original”.
The ASO axe was brandished first in Mozambique where a cluster of small firms were busy manufacturing iron materials that consistently failed to meet required standards. The firms were forced to close shop.
Next is Nigeria, where for instance, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, had swung into action by sealing an aluminum roofing sheets company in Onitsha, Anambra state, believed to be churning out products far below the approved industrial standards.
Mrs. Nwaoma Olujie, the SON Coordinator in Anambra state, told newsmen that the action was due to complaints of poor quality aluminum products in the market. Olujie said the firm would remain sealed to prevent further distribution of the products to customers until the owners submitted themselves to entire gamut of SON’s regulatory and approval processes.
She said the firm was producing and distributing products with thickness of between 0.24 millimeters and 0.28 millimeters as against acceptable minimum thickness of 0.40 millimeters and above. According to her, the firm, which operates in the Onitsha Industrial Harbour, also made the sheets into various roofing designs.
From Takarodi, Ghana, comes a report that two firms involved in the manufacture of cables and plumbing materials were misleading unsuspecting public into buying products that would not give them expected value for their money. The ASO Coordinator, Rufus Tema, stressed that such unwholesome practice would not be tolerated by the authorities.
The ASO has charged national agencies to work extra hard to stop people from falling victims of these sharp practices by availing them of the details of approved standards of all imported and locally manufactured goods.
