KUCHING: About 6,565 or 79.47 per cent of the 8,260 food premises inspected throughout Sarawak comply with the regulation to put up the ‘No Smoking’ sign.
Kuching Division health officer Dr Azlee Ayub said most owners and operators of eateries and smokers in the state were aware and abide by the regulation.
“Sarawak at the moment is still in the educational enforcement stage until Aug 31.
“Therefore, no compound has been issued to any eatery shop owner or smoker except warning notices,” he told reporters after a walkabout at the Ramadan bazaar in Stutong here yesterday.
According to the statement distributed to the press, the Sarawak Health Department had issued a total of 1,998 notices to people who smoked at eateries in Sarawak between March 1 and April 30.
As of April 30, 264 notices were issued under Regulation 11(1)(d) of Tobacco Products Regulations 2004 (Amendment 2018), 1,668 notices under Regulation 12(1)(a) and 66 under Regulation 12(1)(b).
The breakdown by division under Regulation 11(1)(d) of Tobacco Products Regulations 2004 (Amendment 2018), shows that 84 notices were issued in Kuching, 49 in Miri, 40 in Mukah, 19 in Bintulu, 18 in Sarikei, 14 in Limbang, 13 in Samarahan, eight in Sri Aman, seven in Serian, six in Kapit, four in Betong and two in Sibu.
As for notices under Regulation 12(1)(a), Miri has the most with 408, followed by Sibu (234), Kuching (209), Bintulu (197), Mukah (118), Sarikei (113), Samarahan (107), Limbang (105), Betong (91), Serian (64), Kapit (13) and Sri Aman (nine).
The statement showed that Kuching issued the most notices under Regulation 12(1)(b) at 28, followed by Bintulu (19), Limbang (eight), Samarahan (six), Miri (three), Betong and Sarikei (one each), whereas no notices were issued by other five divisions.
Currently, the inspection on food premises is conducted on a weekly basis until end of this month.