An MP demanded on Tuesday that authorities immediately launch a criminal probe into the Takata airbags affair to find out exactly who is responsible for the delays in recalling the defective – and sometimes lethal when deployed – car component.

Effectively the affair dates back to 2011 with efforts to collect distributor contact details and notify car owners. In 2017, a more detailed procedure required distributors to submit updated ownership records to the Road Transport Department.

However, during several recent hearings in parliament it emerged that thousands of vehicles are still equipped with the faulty airbag.

The issue was discussed on Tuesday for the fourth time at the House commerce committee. There, Disy Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis called on the attorney-general to appoint an independent criminal investigator.

The probe should look into all aspects – involvement of government departments as well as across the market chain – to nail down who was responsible for what at any given time.

The transport ministry has ordered an investigation of its own, but its scope is more limited.

“It’s a complex issue that has to do with the loss of life and injuries… a public safety issue for thousands of our fellow citizens,” said Hadjiyiannis.

“The problem is systemic, for 30 whole years the things that ought to have been done were not done. We’ve been reduced to spectators while our fellow citizens don’t know what will happen with their cars.”

The MP went on to claim that people – whom he did not identify – have been calling him and pressuring him not to introduce planned amendments to the relevant law.

And he sent out a warning: “If anyone else calls me and tries to interfere, I will report them to the chief of police.”

The bill co-sponsored by Hadjiyiannis and two other MPs would mandate that, going forward, MOT checks on vehicles include checking whether any components are under recall. The same checks would be made on registering a brand new or second-hand car, cleared only after a certification is issued that no recalls are pending.

Also in attendance was Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades. He said the government would cooperate with MPs in their legislative proposal.

In the interim, Vafeades added, the government would begin sending SMS messages to people whose cars have been flagged for a recall.

“We’ll ask them to immediately bring their vehicles for the recall, otherwise they won’t be able to renew their road tax. It’s an additional incentive for them.”

Head of the motor vehicles importers association Alexis Anninos said they’d work with the Road Transport Department to track down cars with pending recalls.

“Regarding the [car makers’] websites, the manufacturers do not have these links for checking. We asked the manufacturers to give us access. Where such links do exist, they do not apply to all recalls globally.”

Queried by MPs about what procedures are in place, Anninos said that “the manufacturers do not send us money for car parts.

“We follow a procedure, and then give the [report] card to the manufacturers so that they can reimburse us. Car makers have safeguards. We need to scan the airbag we remove, next scan the [new] airbag we insert. Once a recall is completed, the data is entered into the importers’ archives.”

In the meantime, and amid the outcry, the Road Transport Department has just posted on its website the affected car dealers and car makes. It provides links to the dealers’ websites, where owners can enter their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to see whether their car has a Takata airbag. However some of these websites do not have the VIN identification feature.

Potentially affected car makes include BMW, Nissan, Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Isuzu, KIA, Mercedes, Toyota and Mazda.

Following the discussion at the commerce committee, the association of motor and electric vehicle importers (Semio) voiced its “intense dissatisfaction” over the way the issue with recalls of cars imported second-hand is evolving.

Semio said the intentions of the transport ministry and the views expressed at the committee were leading to new complications.

The association said it was willing to contribute to a solution but would not take responsibility, adding that the responsibility lies with the importers and not the general distributors.

Parliamentarians revisited the issue of Takata airbags, which have faced a recall for years but gained traction here in Cyprus after the death of 24-year-old Kyriacos Oxinos in January 2023.

According to the police report at the time, Oxinos, who died in a car crash, may have been killed by a faulty Takata airbag, which when released sends shards of metal flying.

In addition, a similar incident is thought to have caused the death of 19-year-old Styliani Giorgalli, while another young man has had to undergo several surgeries due to the airbag exploding.