Motorists riled over imitation spare parts

MIRI: Retiree Lajim Hasan, 57, drove to a garage one day to have new brake pads installed in his car.

Barely two weeks later, the new pads worn out.

Another motorist, Abdul Halim, 30, purchased a new fuel pump from a shop in the outskirt of Miri city to replace the one that had conked out. When he went to a mechanic to have it installed, the pump failed to work.

Both Lajim and Abdul’s miseries have something in common—they had been duped into buying imitation goods.

This problem is so prevalent here that Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon yesterday urged the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK) to act.

He claimed many motorists had complained to him that there were lots of fake auto spare parts being sold in the city.

Stressing that imitation goods posed a danger to the public, Dr Ting said, “The ministry must check on outlets selling these type of spare parts as these dealers are not only putting people’s lives on the line but are also cheating their customers.”

Dr Ting also appealed to spare parts entrepreneurs to be considerate and sell only genuine products.

Lajim said in general the fake goods were sold cheaper than original ones.

“I would say most of the victims are those who have little knowledge about spare parts; hence, they could not distinguish them.”

Meanwhile, a mechanic in Lutong whispered that the sale of imitation spare parts had been going on for a long time.