Wednesday, March 05, 2008 DTI urges public: Help recall defective cement By Joy Romares-Sevilla
DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry (DTI) assistant secretary Merly Cruz has issued a memorandum to all provincial offices of the department, asking the public to help Holcim Philippines in its drive to recall a total of 130,000 bags of defective cement in the market.
Holcim Davao plant produced these bags of defective cement between February 2 and 4.
"We have already instructed our field offices to help us in the recall of these defective Holcim Ecxcel cement in bags," Cruz said.
She added that DTI Southern Mindanao's monitoring team has also been instructed to check the dealers and retailers in the provinces to ensure that none of the remaining stocks of this batch of cement are sold to consumers.
"Our Consumer Welfare and Trade Regulation Division (CWTRD) has also conducted the necessary inspections at the Holcim Davao plant to ensure that no similar incident will happen again," she said.
This batch of cement bags was found to have low strength development and not suited for load-bearing concrete such as posts and beams.
The problem occurred when Holcim Davao's X-ray machine for chemical analysis suddenly malfunctioned.
Meanwhile, DTI said, in order to find out the date of production of the Holcim Excel cement bad a consumer had bought, he just have to look at the first four digits indicated at the bottom of the bags. The first two numbers indicate the month, while the last two specify the actual day of production.
Cruz, on the other hand, said the company is willing to compensate whatever damage its product may have caused.
The consumers may have DTI Southern Mindanao's assistance through the CWTRD with contact numbers 224-0511 local 421. They may also reach Holcim Davao at 238-0249. (With Press release)
