UNRELENTING in his criticism, former finance minister Lim Guan Eng lashed out at Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong for refusing to admit that he had misled the public over the controversial beer license issue.
“Wee must explain what type of revocation he is talking about when state governments can now decide on beer licensing when they did not have such powers previously.
“It looks like the minister is blinded by the perks and privileges of the office until he had forgotten his duties as an elected representative,” he said, in a statement.
Two days ago, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz denied the Government had revoked the licensing requirement for coffee shops and restaurants to sell beers, insisting that the power to license or exempt premises from selling alcoholic drinks remains with the states, adding Putrajaya has no plans to change any measures for now.
“I have instructed the Customs Department to take immediate action to ensure this confusion does not arise again and the licensing for the sale of alcoholic drinks remains under the jurisdiction of the Licensing Board.
“Up till now, there have been no changes made to the authority (of the state),” Malaysiakini reported Tengku Zafrul as saying at the Dewan Rakyat.
Tengku Zafrul’s statement was in direct contradiction to Wee’s announcement days earlier that the Government had revoked its decision to enforce liquor licenses in all restaurants and coffee shops to sell alcohol, which is supposed to be enforced next year.
“Tengku Zafrul has confirmed that the Finance Ministry (MoF) had indeed cancelled the above directives and (he) promised to instruct the customs department to abide by this decision,” the MCA president was reported saying.
With all the confusion, Wee yesterday lashed out at Lim for harping on the issue.
“What do you want, Guan Eng? Now that the Customs Department has issued a letter stating they will reverse this decision and will not be proceeding with this requirement, you are still unhappy and accused me of lying because this decades old requirement was not outrightly cancelled,” The Star reported him as saying.
Why delegate federal powers to state?
Touching on the matter, Lim said that that coffee shops and restaurants in Malaysia have clearly indicated that they do not want to be paying up to RM1,300 and fill up tedious bureaucratic forms monthly just to sell beer and alcoholic drinks.
He added that the problem was the MoF delegating its power to state licensing authorities, whereby the power actually lies with the former.
“Until now, Wee has not spoken out against the new policy. Previously, the power was not delegated to the respective state governments but was postponed, via a directive by Customs Department on Sept 20, 1993,” the Bagan MP noted.
During his tenure at the MoF, Lim said that coffee shop and restaurant owners had no issues as he had postponed the matter but unfortunately, the postponement was withdrawn by the Customs Department on August 16.
“Nevertheless, can Wee guarantee that since this licensing power is now delegated to the respective state licensing authorities, not one state government will impose this licensing requirement on coffee shop and restaurant operators?
“Many coffee shops and restaurant operators in the Pakatan Harapan-controlled states of Penang, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor are relieved that they do not have to apply for a license to sell beer or alcoholic drinks.
“However, they stand in solidarity with others in non-Pakatan controlled states to firmly oppose any new licensing requirement,” Lim remarked. – Dec 11, 2021
