Eng. Farouk Salim, SON DG.
By Dili Utomi.
The era of fake and substandard iron and steel may soon be over as there now seems to be no hidding place for companies producing fake and substandard iron and steel products in the country as aslo arrangements have been concluded to fish the companies out. Malam Farouk Salim, the Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) disclosed this at a meeting with stakeholders yesterday in Lagos and warned that the agency’s taskforce has been empowered to fish out such manufacturers and bring them to book. The taskforce is egually mandated to confiscate the products of such companies and get them prosecuted where necessary. “FG will not sit down, watch and allow it’s citizens die because of poor quality iron and steel. Government is now determined to clean up the sector and will not leave any stone unturned”, he said
Henceforth he continued, “We are not going to do anything below board. I appeal to those that are producing or importing substandard products to desist from these nefarious acts and conform to standards”, Salim stressed. He urged the companies to strengthen their association as this will go a long way in fighting the identified problems in the sector. “SON needs to know the companies that have joined. We want to know those who are participating and those that are not, so as to reach them with what the association has agreed upon.
“SON will not rest until such companies do what the association members are doing. We are not going to accept anything below board and urged all companies to conform to standards. Salim stressed that SON has the authority to visit their foundries frequently to confiscate and melt such products as frequently as possible. “We don’t want to do this but if the need arises, SON will do it. I have no problems melting 1000tons of substandard steel products and penalties levied on offenders. Many people have died in this country through building collapse caused by poor quality iron and steel products and this has to stop”, He warned.
He expressed government’s appreciation to companies doing the right thing promising government continued support to them. “But those not doing the right thing, stiffer penalties would be metted out to them, and SON will do what it had to do”, Farouk says. Speaking at the occasion, Nola Awojobi, executive director, KAM Holdings identified activities of smuggling, lack of timely access to foreign exchange and at right rates, and the activities of companies at the free trade zones as some of the challenges affecting manufacturers in the country. He urged SON taskforce to redouble it’s efforts and be more aggressive in the execution of their duties, and if possible storm warehouses on a regular basis to confiscate poor quality products.
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