Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs S Subramaniam today urged the people to make full use of the Consumer Claims Tribunal to settle their claims.

Although there had been an increase in the number of people using its services it was still small because many were not aware of this facility, Bernama quoted him as saying.

"Since its establishment on Nov 15, 1999 till Nov 10 this year, a total of 3,655 claims had been filed and of these 3,121 had been settled," he told reporters after closing the National Consumer Education Seminar in Penang.

The three-day seminar organised by the Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) was attended by about 200 Tamil school teachers and teacher-trainees from various parts of the country.

Stop bickering

To create greater awareness about the tribunal, Subramaniam said that his ministry in collaboration with consumer associations and non-governmental organisations had conducted 10 such seminars this year.

On a separate issue, Subramaniam who is also deputy MIC president urged all Indian-based parties to focus on the coming general election instead of dwelling on controversies.

This was to ensure a big win for the Barisan Nasional in the general election, he said.

He said leaders of the MIC, IPF (Indian Progressive Front) and the PPP should put an immediate stop to their bickering.