Pelita restaurants to stop selling ciggies by year end

BUTTERWORTH: The sale of cigarettes at Pelita Samudra Pertama (M) Sdn Bhd (Pelita) restaurants nationwide will cease by year’s end.

The move was in support of the government’s smoking ban in eateries and restaurants, which took effect on Jan 1.

Pelita executive director Datuk K.K. Sihabutheen, in welcoming the government’s efforts, said Pelita was prepared to stop the sale of cigarettes despite calls for the government to retract the smoking ban.

He, however, said Pelita needed more time to implement the measure due to the short notice given on the smoking ban.

“For now, we are tied to contracts with cigarettes distributors but we will phase out all overthe-counter sales in stages until year’s end.

“We are confident that customers will support our move. Many of them who come here are non-smokers and they want a smoke-free area,” he said yesterday.

The smoking ban at all food premises was gazetted on Dec 31 and took effect at midnight on New Year’s Day.

The ban was in line with the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations (Amendments) 2018 to protect the public from exposure to cigarette smoke.

Anyone found guilty of the offence can be fined up to RM10,000 or jailed up to two years under Regulation 11 of the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004.

Restaurant operators who fail to display the smoking ban signs can be fined up to RM3,000 or jailed up to six months under Regulation 12 of the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004.

Those who fail to prevent customers from smoking, as well as those who provide smoking facilities for customers, can be fined up to RM5,000 or imprisoned up to one year.

For now, the Health Ministry gave an assurance that it would not penalise anyone for failing to comply with the nationwide ban and only warnings would be issued for the first six months.