Time to stop the sale of cheap liquor, says activist

 

P David Marshel says that the enforcement of legislation involving new restrictions on the sale of cheap liquor had been put off for over four years now.

GEORGE TOWN: The government needs to take serious steps to stop the sale of small, cheap bottled liquor in sundry shops and even ban them from being sold, says a group that has been campaigning against such drinks.

P David Marshel, who leads the Malaysian Anti-Cheap Liquor Movement, said the matter had become more urgent with the deaths of 33 people due to alcohol poisoning in September.

In a statement, he said a well-thought-out plan must be introduced without affecting government revenue from taxes on alcohol while at the same time, upholding the right of non-Muslims to drink.

David said it was disappointing that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall had dropped a licensing condition that could have controlled the sale of cheap liquor in the federal territory.

“We need urgent action so that lives can be saved from alcohol poisoning and other health complications from excess drinking, simply because it is cheap and sold everywhere. We would like to meet the health minister and explain to him the plans we have drawn up through years of activism,” he said.

David has over the years campaigned against cheap liquor, leading to the government introducing subsidiary legislation under the Food Act 1983 which carried new restrictions on bottlers.

The new restrictions require bottlers to sell liquor in larger bottles and make them more expensive to discourage drinking. The bottles are also to bear prominent warning labels stating “Alcohol consumption is hazardous to health”.

However, the legislation’s enforcement has been put off for over four years now.

Earlier today, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that of the 33 who died from methanol poisoning, more than half were locals.

He said improper distillation causes the presence of toxic levels of methanol in cheap alcoholic beverages.

Noor Hisham said the deaths came from 55 cases of methanol poisoning reported from Sept 9 to 30 – a fatality rate of 60%.

He said the cases came from six states namely Selangor (25), Perak (13), Pahang (5), Penang (6), Johor (1) and Negeri Sembilan (1), and four more from Kuala Lumpur.

Of the deaths, 18 were Malaysians, seven from Myanmar, five Indian nationals and three from Nepal.

Seven cases have been discharged from the hospital while 15 are still receiving treatment, 12 of them in the intensive care unit. - FMT