Transporters, Traders Want Victoria Tyres Investigated over alleged Sub-Standard Tyres, linked to Looming Accidents
Some of the tyres impounded by UNBS in an operation last year ( Courtesy Photo)
10 May 2024 :Ugandan traders and transporters have asked the Government to launch an Investigation into the Njeru -based Victoria Tyres Ltd, one of the manufacturers and exporters of tubes & tyres in Uganda. Other trye company under scrutiny by traders and motorists is Chinese linglong while the unmarked tyres are believed to be from other local manufacturers who do contrabands.
The public and traders who are considering to petition Parliament and Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA), claims that Victoria Tyres Ltd which is located at Malindi, Kayunga Road in Buikwe District and offers a wide range of tyre products, continues to manufacture and distribute substandard tyres which are not only a risk to Ugandan market but the entire East African region where it exports products, an allegation we could not independently verify by press time as efforts to get the company officials were futile by the time of this publication.
‘’ The rising demand for tyres in Africa gave us hope as traders and motorists by ushering new companies into Uganda and we were excited that we shall build Uganda and buy Uganda since it has been President Museveni’s campaign. However, the poorly regulated tyre manufacturing and distribution has made us feel that we are not ready to support domestic manufacturers because the rampant accidents have been partially attributed to these tyres and we are not ready to lose clients and people’s lives due to accidents just because of BUBU unless government comes up to assure us on the quality’’, said a tyre trader from Martin Road in Kampala.
Besides the alleged manufacturing of substandard new tyres, there are also claims of low-quality second-hand ones which soon wear out on the country’s rough roads and allegedly recycled by the accused companies.
Experts say that most of the tyres are dumped into the Ugandan market after they have exceeded the legal use limit in European and other developed countries although local manufactures import them do rebranding , which are normally shallow that it makes nonsense of the cheap prices, and they also have a poor surface grip.
‘’We appreciate these companies for creating employment and paying revenue to the government. But what is the relevance of exploiting and cheating consumers with substandard products which cost their lives because of the coverup with employment and meager taxes?’’, asked one of the traders from Kisenyi, a Kampala buzzing trading center.
This comes at a time when Ugandan traders who were meeting President Museveni last week over the controversial Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS) complained that Ministers bring and work With Fake Investors, who illicitly Earn Billions from poor Ugandans.
Some traders have also expressed concern over the diplomatic consequences with the neighboring countries where these companies export tyres, saying that exporting substandard products may result in feuds citing examples of milk and maize disputes which Uganda had with Kenya and South Sudan , both members of the East African community.
It should be remembered that late last year the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) kicked off operations against substandard tyres in the country where over 500 substandard pneumatic tyres worth million shillings were seized from traders in downtown Kampala, in line with the Bureau’s mandate of enforcing standards in protection of public health and safety, and that of the environment, from dangerous substandard products.
Experts from EAC have over the years asserted that poor standards lower trade limits for businesses to access a global customer base, reduce opportunities for countries and therefore member states are supposed to push for standards to promote opportunities for firms to outsource and off-shore certain tasks, promoting efficiency and business optimization.
The East African Community Standardisation, Quality Assurance, Metrology and Testing (SQMT) Act, 2006 makes a provision for ensuring standardisation, quality assurance, metrology and testing of products produced or traded in the Community in order to facilitate industrial development and trade, and makes provision for ensuring the protection of the health and safety of society and the environment.
According to officials from UNBS, the operation followed continued public outcry and complaints about substandard tyres on the market as well as the increased accidents attributed to tyre failure allegedly manufactured within the country.
“We have discovered that a number of tyres are substandard which compromises the quality of the tyres and puts the lives of consumers at risk. When such tyres are used on motor vehicles, they can result in accidents for motorists’’, a source told reporters in Kampala.
The companies have also been accused by traders of poorly carrying out tyre packaging, transportation and storage during distribution, which lead to degeneration in quality of tyres posing a risk to the health and safety of the public and the environment.
‘’It is high time the President and relevant stakeholders like parliament screen these investors because some starts these factories with less experience and technology which result in compromise of quality of their products and in turn, we the consumers are exposed to these risks’’, added another big distributor in Kampala who claims he has been receiving feedback from motorists regarding the matter.
It should be noted that UNBS developed standards to regulate the quality of tyres on the market and urges all manufacturers, importers, distributors, transporters, wholesalers and retailers of pneumatic tyres to ensure that their products meet the standards which include; US EAS 357:2004, Pneumatic tyres for trucks and buses – Specification; US EAS 358:2004 Pneumatic tyres for passenger cars – Specification; US EAS 359:2004, Pneumatic tyres for light trucks – Specification and ; US EAS 360:2004, Pneumatic tyres for agricultural implements – Specification.
Another source whose allegations we could not independently verify, told journalist during a Media briefing in Kampala on Saturday that even some local manufactures deceitfully recycle pneumatic tyres for passenger trucks, stacking them inside one another during distribution and transportation, re-grooving old and expired tyres and resell them to unsuspecting customers, storing tyres directly on the floor and under direct light from skylights, windows, doors and other openings among others at their factories which is a highly compromising to the standards.
Store them in a covered place to prevent exposure to direct light from skylights. Any openings should be kept closed so that light entering the warehouse is reduced to the minimum as possible.
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