Pro-government MPs against using duty revenues for public awareness
Opposition MP Fayyaz Ismail's proposal to allocate five percent of duty revenue to awareness was voted out.
The two opposition MPs on the parliament's Economic Committee.
Pro-government parliamentarians at the economic affairs committee had voted out his proposition to allocate five percent of revenues, from duty hikes placed on tobacco, to public awareness, said opposition MP Fayyaz Ismail.
Ismail said in a tweet on Monday that he would resubmit the proposal to the parliament floor.
His only other Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) peer at the committee was MP Eva Abdulla, who had also expressed her concern on the same platform.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the Customs Service, and the Tobacco Control Board to review the duty hikes. The HPA noted last week that there is a stark lack in funds and effort dedicated towards raising awareness about the risks of smoking.
In a reeling statistic, the HPA also revealed that up to 80 percent of underage smokers in the Maldives, buy cigarettes themselves, which is also indicative of public inattentiveness to tobacco use. State Minister for Health, Aishath Rameela also said that the HPA’s budget of MVR 3.5 million would barely allow the agency to purchase various vaccines and other medicine, with nothing left for such awareness efforts.
Further, Customs said that it generates an annual revenue of MVR 622 million, from duties placed on tobacco import alone.
