MCPF suggests mandatory jail sentence for traders of smuggled, adulterated alcohol
SIBU: The Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation ( MCPF) has called on the government to introduce mandatory jail sentence against those who sell smuggled or adulterated alcohol.
Its senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the existing laws should be amended as alcohol outlets were mushrooming and operating with little monitoring by the authorities.
“I believe that the lack of control of alcohol sales has led to the latest methanol poisoning cases since, as has been reported, many shops are still selling cheap smuggled or adulterated alcohol,” he said in a statement yesterday.
At the same time, Lee said Malaysians should discard their lackadaisical attitude and help the authorities to address the problems related to excessive alcohol consumption that had caused family problems, failing grades among students, road accidents and fights.
He hoped that the relevant authorities, especially the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, the police and local authorities, would do more frequent checks on all premises selling alcoholic beverages, as well as track down shops selling illicit liquor.
With the help from the Health Department and Chemistry Department, he said random samples should be taken and analysed to determine whether the liquor found on the shelves had been adulterated or contained high level of methanol.
As of yesterday, the death toll due to toxic alcohol poisoning was 36 with 24 deaths recorded in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur (nine) and Perak (three).
Lee said it was a worrying trend when studies showed that those earning less than RM3,000 and those living in the rural areas in Malaysia tend to spend more of their income on alcohol than the general urban population in 2016.
Of those in the general population who consume alcohol, the youngest age group detected was between 13 and 14 years old.
Meanwhile, Consumers’ Association of Penang ( CAP) president S. M. Mohamed Idris recently said it was not the first incident since methanol poisoning had happened in 1977 with 18 deaths, 1979 ( 21 deaths) and 1981 (32 deaths).
Lee noted that based on previous reports, the main reasons for these cases were the adulteration of samsu, beers or liquor with cheap but poisonous methanol which is being commercially sold as methylated spirit.
“It baffles me why some of the liquors sold in our country contain methanol that exceeds the permitted level, as shown by the analysis done by the Health Ministry.
“In addition, the products also did not follow labelling requirements under the Food Regulations 1985, under the Food Act, such as the absence of the name and address of the manufacturer, importer or agent.
Lee said: “The existing laws should also be amended to curb alcohol sale as we can see now that alcohol outlets are mushrooming and operating with little monitoring by the authorities.
“At the same time, all Malaysians should discard their lackadaisical attitude and help the authorities address the problems related to excessive alcohol consumption that has caused family problems, failing grades among students, road accidents and fights.”
The World Health Organisation states that over consumption or over exposure to methanol can permanently damage the human nervous system and sight.
Exposure to methanol at just 300 to 1,000 ppm ( 0.03 to 0.1 per cent) can result in coma and death.