KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government is still unclear about its stance on the recently introduced smoking ban, which may or may not be enforced in Sabah.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew said there had been no official word from the State Cabinet on the matter, pending further discussion.
“A policy like that would usually go through cabinet meetings. This is quite a drastic move and it’s not possible that we follow everything from the federal government, like how Sarawak exempted themselves from the ban,” she said.
Christina, who is also Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, added she was concerned how the ban would affect tourism should it be enforced.
It would be difficult to ensure tourists comply with the ban, she said, and was concerned of how it would implicate the industry.
“If we follow the ban, what would happen to tourists who come here? Would they be banned as well? It’s a bit difficult so we’ll see how it goes. We don’t know about Sabah yet in terms of imposing the ban, pending cabinet decision,” she said.
She also expressed concern over the closure of eNTRI applications for tourists from China, especially with Chinese New Year around the corner.
“I am very concerned about this because Chinese New Year is coming and a lot of tourists from China will be visiting Sabah. If online visa application is halted, I don’t know to what extent this will affect the number of tourists coming in.
“I’m going to bring this up to the cabinet and to the attention of the Chief Minister. Hopefully, this will be able to be resolved in the best way. We work very hard to get tourists here so if the visa application is closed … we’ll see how it goes,” she said.