DBKL Eyes Ban On Smoking To Make KL One Of The Top 20 Liveable Cities In The World
There are now 23 zones in KL designated as no smoking areas.
By Sadho Ram — 20 May 2017, 03:19 PM
And in order to do that, the city council is eyeing ban on smoking
On Friday, 19 May, following the launch of the no-smoking zone at the elevated pedestrian bridge connecting Sunway Putra Mall and PWTC, Mayor Datuk Seri Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz was reported by The Star Online that DBKL is pushing for a smoking ban at indoor facilities, including restaurants, in the next three years.
This comes after the ban on smoking on 141 walkways in the city.
While restaurants without air-conditioning are not subject to this ban at the moment, StarMetro quoted the Major as saying that, "We are moving towards that. At least by 2020, we are hoping that there will be more areas designated as a no-smoking zone."
There are now 23 zones in KL designated as no smoking areas
While in January this year, smoking was banned at public parks, the symbolic gazetting of the walkway yesterday ensures that now smoking is no longer allowed at 141 pedestrian walkways, elevated walkways, and covered bridges — many of which connect to private buildings, shopping malls, and government agencies — spanning over 20km in Kuala Lumpur, reported The Star Online.
Speaking about the process to designate the 141 walkways which took almost four years, DBKL Health and Environment Department Director Dr Hayati Abdullah said, "It was a tedious process that required a lot of paperwork and meetings and red tape"
Dr Hayati added that while the city council is moving towards other areas too, the process will take some time before it happens
Meanwhile, a total of Nine organisations has signed a memorandum of understanding to pledge to keep the 23 zones in KL designated as no smoking areas free of smoke.
The Star reported that the areas that are now off limits are observation towers in national and state parks, public parks, national and state parks, campsite, and canopy bridge.
While DBKL's step towards seeing Kuala Lumpur become one of the top 20 liveable cities in the world by 2020 is commendable, it's going to take a lot more than just smoking ban on designated areas
What's makes a city as the world's most "liveable" city does not depend on a single criterion. There are several factors; for example, while the bustle and hum of megacities like Tokyo and New York might be too much for some people, and at the same time others might struggle with the pace of life in Singapore and San Fransisco.
While there is no official list of world's top 20 liveable cities, last year on August, the EIU released a ranking of world's top 10 cities that was based on factors related to safety, health care, educational resources, infrastructure and the environment.
