Shahidan sidesteps question on new guidelines for liquor bans

 

PARLIAMENT | Federal Territories Minister Shahidan Kassim sidestepped a question from Teresa Kok (Pakatan Harapan-Seputeh) on whether there will be new guidelines issued in black and white for the restrictions on hard liquor sales.

Earlier, he said the consensus he reached with stakeholders in their last engagement meeting is that they can appeal to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) Excise Board if their application for a liquor licence was rejected.

For now, DBKL has decided to maintain its guidelines for the liquor licence that was announced on Nov 1, he added.

The coordinated multi-agency enforcement will be focused on the sale of illicit liquor, which Shahidan said is a rampant issue.

However, he noted there was a concession made in the last engagement session on Nov 20 that he had with stakeholders such as hard liquor distributors, wholesalers, bottlers and retailers including sundry shop owners and so on.

“Based on that engagement session… if an application for a hard liquor licence was rejected based on the set guidelines, the applicant can make an appeal to the Excise Board for reconsideration,” Shahidan said.

Federal Territories Minister Shahidan Kassim

He was speaking during his winding-up speech for his ministry’s allocations under Budget 2022.

'Where's the black and white?'

However, he was questioned by Kok who pointed out that he had previously said sundry shops in the federal territories would be allowed to sell hard liquor.

“I am still waiting, where is the black and white guidelines? Because what you say in Parliament has not been issued by DBKL as an official guideline,” she said.

In response, Shahidan repeated the consensus they reached in the last engagement session with all stakeholders, which is that rejected applications can be appealed.

He said stakeholders understood the ban is meant to combat the sale of illicit liquor and they have agreed to it.

“Everyone already understands the issue. It is just you who still does not understand,” he quipped.  - Mkini