The Ministry of Health said that enforcement was being conducted regularly and concurrently by the ministry to reel in those breaking the smoking ban at eateries and restaurants but they are facing difficulties.

The ministry was in the process of increasing the number of enforcement officers by collaborating with other agencies and local authorities to strengthen enforcement activities which they consider as an urgent exercise.

Currently, there are two external agencies in which power has been delegated to carry out the enforcement activities on the smoking ban which has been in effect from the year 2018. They are the auxiliary police in Sunway and UiTM.

Last year alone, over 12,000 compounds were issued to errant smokers and over 1,000 to the owners of premises and about 67,203 premises were inspected during enforcement activities.

But the number of compounds issued to individuals who smoked in prohibited areas last year came down to 12,285, compared with 27,821 in 2020 and 39,419 in 2019.

Until the end of 2020, there were 5,748 enforcement officers under the Health Ministry who conducted enforcement activities on the smoking ban.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE