KUCHING: A mere ban or suspension of alcohol sales will not address the issue of drink driving, said Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.
Instead, he suggested that the solutions should take on a different holistic approach, without infringing or taking away the rights of others, especially in a plural and multicultural country, like Malaysia.
He claimed the previous government under Pakatan Harapan (PH) was already prepared to take on the issue in a more appropriate manner.
“PH was ready to double the jail term for drink drivers for up to 20 years, with a minimum of six years, lower the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) rate from 80mg to 50mg, and even proposing the suspension of driving licence for those who caused death.
“Other than that, a comprehensive campaign to raise public awareness and education was planned to holistically address the issue,” he said in a Facebook posting today.
Yii said while it was important to stress that drunk driving was an issue that had to be seriously addressed, and addressed holistically, the victims of the of heinous act and their families should also be taken care of and justice should be served to those involved, especially if it had caused unnecessary harm and death.
“However, the issue is complex and real long-term solutions through a combination of proper education, incentives, social messaging, engagement and of course heavier punishments are needed,” he stressed.
In expressing his concerns alluding to Minister of Housing and Local Government Zuraida Kamaruddin’s statement that the ministry was ready to consider suspending new licenses to sell liquor, Yii said the initiative may run the risk of infringing on the rights of the state which, in general, has the jurisdiction of local council and business licensing.
Yii reminded that the people must be cautious that any federal directive must not infringe the the peoples’ rights, especially if it could disrupt the multicultural and secular nature in Sarawak, as enshrined under the Federal Constitution and protected under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
“In Sarawak, we have the Local Government Regulation 1963 and the Local Authority Ordinance which give the state discretion and autonomy in the running of local government matters.
“This was seen around November 2018, when the Ministry of Housing and Local Council also proposed a directive that all signboards with multilanguage would need to be replaced with a singular language and that such directive also covered Sabah and Sarawak.
“Even though it was proposed by the PH government then, I myself opposed it publicly and reminded the minister of the autonomy that we, in Sabah and Sarawak, had under our Local Authority Ordinance. Since then such directive was not carried out here in the State,” he added.
