Scrap metal dealers regret move to appoint sole agent
Published on: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Kota Kinabalu: Scrap metal dealers have expressed regret over the appointment of a sole agent to purchase scrap iron in the State despite their strong objection. In a statement, they described the appointment of Superpanel (Sabah) Sdn Bhd as the sole agent as a monopolistic move to deny them their three decades of hard work and investment poured into their business.Their spokesperson, Callistus Wong, said in a statement that the move is seen as depriving them of their fundamental right to earn a decent living.
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He said many of the dealers are still servicing bank loans for the purchase of machinery equipment and land to operate their business.Local Government and Housing Ministry Permanent Secretary, Datuk Ujang Sulani, disclosed the Government's decision during a meeting organised by the Ministry last Friday.Wong said the dealers had initially thought the meeting was a follow-up to their earlier meeting with Local Government and Housing Assistant Minister, Edward Yong Oui Fah, in July last year.
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"We thought the meeting was to further discuss the issue of rampant metal theft in the State with the main aim of finding a solution to the problem."Unfortunately, it turned out that the meeting was merely to introduce the sole agent to us, without giving us a chance to present our case, including our proposals to help resolve the metal theft issue in Sabah," he said.
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Also present at the meeting were representatives from various government departments and agencies, including the City Police, Customs and Excise Department, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, City Hall and Public Works Department (PWD).Wong said they fear that once the agent starts operating, it might eventually force them out of business.He cited Labuan where, after the appointment of a sole agent to collect scrap metal, people were forced to sell their scrap metal to the agent at a price below the market price."Because of the monopolistic nature of the scrap metal business in Labuan, many scrap metal dealers have been gradually forced out of business. "(Hence) we strongly believe that if such move is implemented here, it will be just a matter of time that the dealers in Sabah, too, will face the same fate as our Labuan counterparts," he said.The scrap metal dealers also noted that starting early this year the relevant authority only renewed their licences on a monthly basis unlike annually previously.They claimed that the sole agent and its representatives have been harassing them since last year. They said in April last year they had been approached to execute the so-called "management agreement" with third parties. They alleged that the agreement was "a major rip-off as it involved as many as four parties before it reached them."This was because under the agreement, Superpanel Sabah has appointed another company by the name of Punca Puncak Sdn Bhd as its Exclusive Sole Authorised Agent for Sabah who then appointed another company named Winapeak Sdn Bhd as the Sole Authorised Sub-Agent, they said. Besides this, all the scrap metal dealers in the State were also required to pay a sum of RM20,000 to Superpanel Sabah after signing up under the scheme and another RM12,000 being the "annual management fee" to Winapeak Sdn Bhd.They were also required to submit a monthly sales report to Winapeak Sdn Bhd for the company to determine the cost of the scrap metals based on weight, which is also subject to review every six months.The dealers said the explanation given by the relevant authorities on the appointment of the sole agent - to curb rampant metal theft in Sabah - does not hold water.They argued that the Ministry has not exhausted all avenues including to study the measures proposed by the pro tem committee of the Sabah Scrap Metals Recycle Association (SSMRA) that were submitted to Edward last year. "Edward Yong had, in fact, during the last meeting in July last year, promised to study our proposals before arranging a meeting between us and other government departments and agencies to discuss the issue."Regrettably, when we were invited to attend the meeting last Friday, it turned out to be a briefing-cum-announcement of the appointment of Superpanel Sabah as the sole agent to purchase scrap metals in Sabah," they said. The dealers, nevertheless, noted that Superpanel Sabah did adopt five of the 19 points raised in the proposal by SSMRA.They contended that the scrap metal theft issue could be effectively reduced through close cooperation with the police and the other relevant government departments and agencies, but not by appointing a sole agent.They said a representative from the City Police last Friday reported that incidences of metal theft in the State have reduced since last year.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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