Loke said motorists have less than two months to change their airbags before getting blacklisted by the Road Transport Department. — Picture by Azneal Ishak

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 19 — Putrajaya has given its final warning today to nearly 80,000 Honda, Subaru and Mazda owners who still have not heeded the Takata airbag recall.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said this is because the three manufacturers currently have enough airbag supplies to accommodate the recall exercise.

Loke said motorists involved have less than two months to change their airbags before getting blacklisted by the Road Transport Department (JPJ).

“I have asked the companies to send final reminder within two weeks. After that JPJ will issue Notice 114 to summon these car owners to update their status.

“If they still ignore the notice after a month, we will begin the blacklisting process, which means they will not be able to renew their road taxes,” he said at a press conference here.

Loke said a grace period of additional two to three months will be given to users of BMW, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Toyota as their service centres currently lack supplies.

He stressed that the government did not mean to burden the people but this was its “last resort” to ensure the safety of motorists whose vehicles are still installed with Takata-issued airbags.

“It’s not even that hard to pop by the workshop and change the airbags. For free, too. It will probably take only two hours.

“If we don’t threaten them with the word ‘blacklist’, they will never do it. They should realise what matters most is their lives, not the road tax renewal,” he said.

Loke revealed that since June 26, the government has spent RM1 million to send out letters to 408,551 motorists but only 70,853 have adhered to the government’s pleas.