Tough proposal: The Selangor government is considering screening audience members before they are allowed to attend concerts in the state.
BANTING: The Selangor government will recommend that urine screening be made the standard operating procedure (SOP) for audience members to curb the use of drugs at concerts held in the state, says Datuk Ng Suee Lim.
The state local government and tourism committee chairman said the recommendation is among matters to be discussed at the state executive council meeting tomorrow.
He said among others, there will be a review of the shortcomings as well as to look at improvements that can be made in the SOP for organising concerts.
This includes the need to provide scanning machines so that any prohibited material can be detected and prevented from being brought into the venue by irresponsible parties.
“We want to tighten the SOP and look at what cooperation can be carried out with the police and local authorities because when licences or permits are granted, we want to ensure that the organisers thoroughly check (especially for drugs).
“So, from now on, we might need to conduct urine tests as part of the SOP for visitors (concert-goers).
“And this recommendation will be brought up at the executive council meeting so that people who abuse drugs or are drug addicts are not allowed to enter any concert (venues),” he said after launching the workshop on engagement sessions for coordination and standardisation of best practices for local authorities here yesterday, Bernama reported.
Ng was commenting on media inquiries in relation to the state government’s efforts to review the concert implementation guidelines in Selangor to prevent the recurrence of drug-related deaths.
Selangor youth, sports and entrepreneurship committee chairman Mohd Najwan Halimi had previously said that his team was taking a serious view of the matter and discussions would be held with Ng.
On whether the suspension of concert permits will disrupt the Visit Selangor Year 2025 campaign, Ng said it has implications and would affect organisers who have invested money.
He said that at the moment, no concerts will be postponed, adding that a concert that was supposed to be held in Bandar Sunway next week has been moved to Kuala Lumpur.
Last Friday, Selangor police announced a temporary suspension of concert permits in the state until the investigation into the deaths of four people who had attended the Pinkfish Countdown 2024 concert in Bandar Sunway is completed.
Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the immediate order will remain in force until his team is confident that organisers are able to give a guarantee that they can control concerts, especially to prevent criminal elements such as drug distribution during their events.
The police are investigating the cause of death of four people in their 20s to 40s, including two women, who attended the New Year’s Eve concert, following a report lodged by the University Malaya Medical Centre regarding their deaths.
