The Hardware Dealers Association is defending the integrity of its members and is denying knowledge of any unscrupulous dealings with recipients of government grants. The association's president Joseph Callender said yesterday it was unfair to paint all hardware dealers in such a negative light.
He was reacting to Local Government Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan who said on Tuesday the Self-Help Commission would crackdown on hardware dealers who he said had been taking advantage of beneficiaries of home-repair grants. Rambachan said the commission had discovered instances in which hardware dealers had marked up their prices to cheat grant recipients.
He said when he received quotations, he would personally contact the hardware stores to verify the prices and would get a lower price. Cheating suppliers would be blacklisted, he added. But Callender said the association was unaware of such unethical actions by its 300 members. "If we know them, we will deal with them," he added, urging Rambachan to do likewise.
Through the Self-Help Commission people in need can apply for grants between $10,000 to $15,000 to repair their homes. The applicant is required to get three price quotations from hardware stores registered with the commission. It then chooses the lowest quotation and the selected hardware delivers the material to the applicant and receives the payment.
Krishna Sant, secretary of the Hardware Dealers Association, explained why the prices of materials could vary. He said it was the hardware with the lowest quotation which was selected by?Self-Help. He added: "There is a difference between the cash price of the material and the credit price. It takes about 30 days for the process to go through until we get payment and in this case the credit price is used. This comes with interest."
Sant, whose hardware is registered with Self-Help for the home-repair grant, said some hardware stores bought material in bulk and sold below cost and smaller businesses could not compete with them. "But no hardware store has been overcharging," he added.
He said he had no problems with Self-Help which paid him on time after he delivered material to successful applicants. Sant said a registered hardware store could process two or three such grants for the month. A hardware store could register with the commission for the grant programme simply by applying, he added.