IF there is such thing as recycled cooking oil, it wouldn’t be mind-boggling to hear of recycled gloves.
This is not surprising given that demand for gloves – especially good-quality medical examination gloves – has been on the rise whether within the food & beverage industry (among food handlers) or among medical practitioners.
As such, Limmas (M) Sdn Bhd CEO Lim Choon Huat advised customers to buy or procure their glove supply directly from the manufacturers
“Based on my customer’s experience, 90% of those who get their glove supply from agents/distributors/dealers tend to be sold with recycled/reused gloves 90% of the time,” he told FocusM. “The main reason is that all glove manufacturers are already running at full capacity.”
Henceforth, gaining access to recycled/reused gloves is seen as a solution. “Also, given that the price of gloves have surged so fast, more ‘outsiders’ are now plying the trade to make quick profit,” he revealed.
Such dishonest action is obviously putting the health and well-being of Malaysians – and especially the COVID-19 front-liners – at risk.
Like all reputable glove manufacturers and distributors, Lim said Limmas takes all necessary and stringent steps to ensure the integrity and the quality of its products from the manufacturing stage to storage and delivery.
However, that may not be the case for gloves that are made available by dishonest persons, businesses or companies.
“We do not know where they get their gloves from,” cautioned Lim. “Those gloves could be gloves that have been disposed-off by a hospital. We also do not know what the gloves were used for or what were handled earlier by such gloves in this hospital.”
Likewise, the storage condition is likely to be unsanitary and dirty, hence posing a threat to the health and of the user.
To stem such unscrupulous trade from thriving, Limmas has successfully sought an interim injunction from the High Court of Kuala Lumpur on Nov 30 to restrain two Kuala Lumpur-based companies from, among others, manufacturing, supplying and/or offering for sale unauthorised nitrile examination that made reference to its business name.
This follows a raid that was conducted by the Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Domestic Trade & Consumer Affairs (Putrajaya) at one of the companies’ storage area in the Bangi Industrial Area.
“Limmas takes a very serious view of any persons or businesses or companies who choose to engage in such fraudulent and/or dishonest activities,” Lim pointed out.
“We have even published a warning notice in a newspaper to educate the public and will not hesitate to use the available laws in Malaysia against them.”
At the end of the day, such fraudulent activity risks risk tarnishing the country’s name as Malaysia is regarded as one of the world’s biggest manufacturers and exporters of rubber gloves.
“There are better ways to make money … profiteering by riding on the disregard for the health and safety of the public is disgraceful and shameful,” he added. – Dec 2, 2020
