Tobacco Order Still Flouted Due To Enforcement Delay

Source from:  By Dina Junaidi Bandar Seri Begawan 02/04/2008

According to related authorities from the Ministry of Health, the Tobacco Order which was supposed to be enforced by February 1, 2008 has been delayed to further notifications due to some amendments currently made by the ministry. The decision of the new order which has the major support from members of the public is still being discussed by the related authorities from the ministry and will be informed to the public as soon as possible as to why the enforcement is being delayed. So far, when interviewed by The Brunei Times, some restaurant and cafe owners in the sultanate said that they have not received any letter or notice saying that the enforcement of the order was due to start. "I did not receive any letter from the government about the enforcement, I only heard about this matter from members of the public and read it from newspapers," explained a manager of an Indian restaurant located nearby The Mall Gadong, adding that related authorities from the ministry came a month ago to advise them to remove the advertisement logo of cigarette brands which used to be hung on the wall of the restaurant. A cafe supervisor who wished to remain anonymous said that they have also not received any official notice regarding the order and as a result of that still practice both sections of non-smoking and smoking areas without any concerns about the ban of public smoking. Hjh Zaidah Hj Mohd Daud, owner of the popular restaurant Sugar and Spice in Kiulap, explained that, "I would not stop operating the activities of shisha in the restaurant and will still operate as a smoking area restaurant if the related authorities have not briefed us about the new order." She also went on to say that personally she thinks that this matter is a drastic move by the ministry and thus she requested that if the related authorities were to practice this kind of order, they should do it gradually and not drastically because it might bring more confusion to the public. Enditem