KUCHING: The federal government should respect the rights of business operators and their rights within their own premises before implementing the ‘No Smoking’ policy.
Irrespective of the justification given, the government needed to respect the rights, opinions and views of the people most affected by the directive, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) publicity chief Datuk Idris Buang yesterday.
He said this in reference to the federal government’s blanket policy on banning smoking in public eateries effective Jan 1 next year.
He advised Sarawak Pakatan Harapan chief, Chong Chieng Jen, and the federal government to check with the affected stakeholders before rushing into implementing the policy.
Idris pointed out that Sarawak government was not “indifferent” to the implementation of the policy.
However, it (State government) was hoping to get feedback from the affected stakeholders first so that it could have the most effective way to implement it, he said in a statement yesterday.
He said shopowners and eateries had their rights and they should be heard before the government simply rushed into enforcing the policy at all eateries.
“Is there an alternative such as having designated areas
for both smoking and no-smoking zones within their premises?” he asked.
Idris noted that the seeming lack of enthusiasm on the Sarawak government’s part was because the policy was totally not in line with the common tenets and principle of listening to the people’s views first, especially the stakeholders.
