Smoking ban: Concerted effort between MoE, local councils crucial — Junaidi
There should be a concerted effort between the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the local councils when it comes to enforcing the smoking ban.
In pointing this out, Kuching North Datuk Bandar Datu Junaidi Reduan believes that by sitting down and planning the public awareness programmes together, the teams from the ministry and the councils could cooperate in ensuring effective enforcement of the ban.
“The ban is more or less a federal thing. If you smoke (at coffeeshops), the DBKU (Kuching North City Commission) is not the one who will ‘tangkap’ (capture) you.
“If we (councils) are not allowed to do the enforcement, why do we need to monitor? The responsibility lies with the ministry,” he told The Borneo Post recently.
On Dec 26 last year, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Housing Datu Dr Penguang Manggil had said that the ban against smoking and vaping in all food premises, effective Jan 1 this year, would be fully enforced by the Health Department.
“The local authorities in Sarawak will assist in whatever way possible, especially in educating the public about the need to prohibit smoking at eateries and the designated public places, and (also) the danger it poses,” said Penguang in a statement.
Adding on, Junaidi pointed out that there should be a continuous effort in educating the public about the ban, stressing that as enforcement alone ‘would not cut it’.
“Enforcement would fail, if the smokers’ attitude remained the same and they (would still) light up in coffee-shops.
“To me, no matter how strong the enforcement is, it goes back to (the smokers’) self-discipline and awareness.
“Thus, there must be a campaign (being) done continuously until it (awareness) is embedded in their mindsets,” he said.