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PETALING JAYA (Dec 22): The Selangor authorities will cooperate with the Health Ministry to come up with “proper guidelines” on the smoking ban set to be enforced on Jan 1 next year.
Selangor Health, Welfare, Women and Family Empowerment Committee chairman Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud told The Star she “would lead the effort to ensure that local councils were aware of their role in the enforcement of the ban”.
“I am surprised that the councils are not sure what to do yet. I suppose they want a proper guideline and standard operating procedure on how to go about it,” the daily reported her saying.
But she also revealed that “she herself have not received any information from the ministry”.
Another report by the daily stated that the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has also not received “any directive from the state government or the Health Ministry on the matter”.
“We know that the ban will begin in January but we have no idea how to implement the prohibition against smoking,” said MBPJ deputy mayor Johari Anuar at the city council’s full board meeting recently.
“We are also not sure how far away from the restaurants are the patrons allowed to light up their cigarettes,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Dr Siti Mariah said the initial aim is not to “slap offenders with compounds” but educate them on the new law and the benefits of giving up smoking.
“We need to ensure adequate information is disseminated. We need to give them a few months after implementation before issuing summonses,” she added.
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