MPAJ orders removal of e-cigarette, smoking product ads

The Star

a day ago

Hasrolnizam (front row, fifth from right) with councillors celebrating MPAJ's 33rd anniversary after the full board meeting. —AZMAN GHANI/ The Star
ENFORCEMENT against advertisements for smoking products including e-cigarettes will start in Ampang Jaya municipality, Selangor, next week.
Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) deputy president Hasrolnizam Shaari said notices were sent out on June 6 to 126 e-cigarette businesses to remove product advertisements.
'The shops must remove all advertisements relating to smoking products including vape- related items on the premises, within 14 days of the notice.
'Enforcement action will be implemented if business owners fail to comply,' Hasrolnizam said during MPAJ's full board meeting.
All local authorities in Selangor were instructed to take immediate action to seize and confiscate advertisements related to e-cigarette products.
State public health and environment committee chairman Jamaliah Jamaluddin had said that the decision was made during a coordination meeting which she chaired.
'This action is in line with provisions of Control of Tobacco Product for Public Health Act 2023 (Act 852), which explicitly prohibits any form of advertising, promotion and sponsorship related to electronic smoking products,' she said in a media statement on May 20.
Hasrolnizam said while vape shops had been given licences to sell, they were not allowed to carry the word 'vape' on their signboards.
'We will revoke their business licences if they do not comply.'
On the mushrooming of roadside coffee stalls in Taman Keramat, he said MPAJ had received complaints about this as a public nuisance issue, specifically in causing traffic chaos.
'Though we support the coffee culture, operators need to know that there must be an orderly way in handling their operations,' he said.
Hasrolnizam said MPAJ Licensing and Entrepreneurial Development Department director Addy Hissham Elias was currently carrying out an inventory to assist these small businesses.
'Many coffee sellers are youths, and MPAJ is keen to help them look for suitable sites to do business without obstructing traffic,' he said.
'Most of the complaints are traffic-related as these coffee businesses are set up by the roadside and under trees.'
Hasrolnizam also said that public complaints about Dataran Komuniti Dato Mokhtar Dahari in Kampung Pandan Dalam becoming a haunt for vagrants was being addressed by the Welfare Department.
'We asked the department for assistance and steps are being taken to address the issue,' he said.
Meanwhile, he said MPAJ collected revenue of RM4.2mil between January and June 23 from parking fees, with the highest amounts from online payments (RM1.9mil) and reserved bays (RM2.1mil).
On assessment tax collection, he disclosed that Menara ARC, Beverly Heights and Taman Kosas had the most number of defaulters.
MPAJ Revenue Department, he said, had sent notices to 313 accounts for commercial and residential properties in these areas in a bid to recover arrears amounting to RM532,419.90.
The full board meeting ended on a cheerful note as MPAJ celebrated its 33rd anniversary with a cake-cutting ceremony.