KUALA LUMPUR – The government is still in a discussion on the alcohol sales ban at grocery stores, convenience shops and Chinese medicine halls in the capital city.
The Minister of Federal Territories, Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim said that the measure was taken so that an agreement with everyone involved can be achieved before the sales ban is enforced.
He said, the decision of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) in delaying the enforcement of the guideline until 31 October was to pave way for further discussions.
“We have yet to finish our discussion. We not only need to think about the interest of the sellers, but we also need to consider about the buyers. The Keluarga Malaysia government respects the Muslims and the non-Muslims.
“I don’t want to make a decision with a situation where Yang Berhormat (Teresa Kok) felt dissatisfied and I don’t feel good making decisions like that,” he said during the Minister Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat today, answering the question from Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh) if the Ministry planned to continue their discussion with all stakeholders in the issue.
Elaborating further, Shahidan said that the government has conducted several meetings with everyone involved, including Teresa to get their opinion on the Liquor License (LMK) Guideline.
He said, the LMK approved earlier is sufficient, however, legal enforcement needs to be executed as selling alcoholic drinks openly is not appropriate.
“This involved the youths purchasing the drinks everywhere. This worries us and we need to have a law to stop the access to those drinks,” he said.
He said, although there is a sales ban at certain premises, the non-Muslims can still get their alcohol at authorised locations such as the hotels, pubs and retail outlets allowed to sell the product. -MalaysiaGazette
Read More:
Alcohol sales ban at grocery, convenience stores to be decided today
Federal Territories proposes alcohol license freeze – Annuar Musa
