Dewan Rakyat: Tobacco Bill Hits Snag Again

Source from:  By : V. Vasudevan, Eileen Ng, Joseph Sipalan, Irdiani Mohd salleh and Ili L 08/26/2008

THE debate on the National Kenaf and Tobacco Board Bill 2008, which resumed yesterday, was almost derailed again. Wee Choo Keong (PKR-Wangsa Maju) called for further amendments to Section 12 of the bill, claiming that it provided protection for non-governmental officers. The debate on the bill was deferred last Tuesday to amend the wording on the section, which members of the house said provided total protection to board members and their agents from prosecution. Yesterday, Wee said the amendments were insufficient as it also accorded protection to members of the board who were not part of the government. (The board also includes a representative from tobacco manufacturers.) "Why should we provide protection to the manufacturers when the government is a signatory to the WHO (World Health Organisation) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control?" Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said Wee misunderstood the interpretation of Section 12, saying it only covered government officers carrying out their duties. "The protection was only for authorised officers, who include officers from the board, police officers not below the rank of inspector and Customs officers." However, this did not stop Wee from continuing to harp on the issue, saying provisions under the Framework compelled signatories to enforce strict tobacco control. The situation prompted Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to repeatedly stop Wee, who he said was raising issues that should have been debated at the policy level. "The issue at hand is whether or not MPs agree to the two words being dropped from the bill. It is simply a yes or no," he said to much protests from Wee. Pandikar Amin was referring to the words keabaian (neglect) and keingkaran (default). Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar and Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi (BN-Batu Pahat) also rebuked Wee for being stubborn. Pandikar Amin eventually reined in Wee by declaring: "If you insist on wasting time, I cannot tolerate this situation because it is going against the standing order." The debate resumes today after Question Hour. Enditem