THE Health Ministry has no issues with the Housing and Local Government Ministry’s plan to designate smoking zones. 

Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said he is fully supportive of the move, seen as complementing his ministry’s efforts to ban smoking at eateries. 

“I support minister Zuraida Kamaruddin for wanting to help me implement my programme while still adhering to the restriction of 3m or 10 feet,” he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today. 

He said this in response to Zuraida’s statement last Wednesday on allowing local councils to build a special smoking zone in their municipalities. 

Zuraida said her ministry has plans to allocate RM1 million for the designated smoking zones in 155 municipalities. 

The designated zones will have roofs with bins to collect cigarette butts, costing RM5,000 each. 

She also urged restaurant operators to set up a smoking zone at their eateries. 

However, the Public Health Specialists Association objected to the proposal for smoking zones, as it gave the impression that smoking was an acceptable lifestyle choice. 

“When the ministry undertakes an initiative to provide smoking zones, they may feel it is a good move but for us it appears to be the opposite to the message being sent by the Health Ministry,” said the association president Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar at a press conference yesterday. 

Commenting on this, Dzulkefly said Zuraida’s proposal is reasonable, as the ministry has the right to gazette the special smoking zones. 

He also defended the plan to allocate RM1 million to local councils to set up the facility, adding that Zuraida’s ministry is helping his ministry achieve the goal of observing smokers and making eateries smoke free. 

“We do not have the ability to build facilities. That falls under the jurisdiction of the housing ministry.” 

Dzulkefly said the proposal should not be interpreted as encouraging smoking but instead be taken as an alternative solution to allow smokers to light up without breaking the rules. 

He added that his ministry is also in the midst of preparing the guidelines for the designated smoking zones. 

The proposed guidelines is expected to be presented at the National Council for Local Government’s meeting in March. – January 11, 2020.