Opposition wants smoking ban issues addressed...

… before Parliament breaks

THE Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) on Wednesday demanded that Minister of Health, Dr Fenton Ferguson address the backlash created by the smoking ban before the beginning of Parliament’s summer break, which starts next week.“The minister’s commitment to bring the regulations to Parliament sometime in the future, presumably, after the summer break, is unacceptable,” Opposition Spokesman on Health, Dr Kenneth Baugh, told a press briefing at the Jamaica Labour Party’s Belmont Road headquarters in St Andrew.Dr Baugh said that while the Opposition understands the appropriateness of the measures, the minister had denied the Opposition and other parliamentarians an opportunity to speak on the measures by failing to bring them to Parliament prior to implementation.“Because of the hurried nature of the process, we are imploring that there have been serious oversights,” he said.He listed among the oversights the failure to legislate on the selling of cigarettes to minors; minors involved in the sale of cigarettes; lack of compliance with the first protocol of the World Health Organisation/Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to eliminate the illicit trade in cigarettes; and establishment of a unit responsible for the coordination and implementation of all the measures, including effective health education.“It is clear that the regulations have not gone far enough in some instances, and are too draconian in others,” Baugh commented.He also pointed to the fact that several attempts by the Opposition to have discussions at the level of Parliament on the issues since the ban, including the tabling of motions and questions, have been ignored by the minister.He said that an assurance from Government that his motion would have been debated in the House of Representatives on Tuesday was withdrawn.Opposition Spokesman on Tourism Edmund Bartlett, who was also present at the press conference, criticised the likely effects on tourism, including the need for hotels to make tremendous adjustments to meet the changes to assist “the enormous amount of visitors who are smokers”.Meanwhile, Opposition Senator Alexander Williams said that while they accepted that the minister has powers under section 14 of the Public Health Act to issue orders, those powers should only be used in cases of emergencies.“I don’t know that you can legislate, for lifestyle changes, that areas be designated smoking areas or not, and that would fit in with the spirit of the Act,” said Senator Williams, who suggested that what is needed is a separate legislation dealing with an overall policy on the use of tobacco.BAUGH… it is clear that the regulations have not gone far enough in some instances, and are too draconian in othersFERGUSON… failed to bring the regulations before the House of Representatives on Tuesday

View the original article here

Opposition wants smoking ban issues addressed...