BANTING: The Selangor government will recommend urine screening as a standard operating procedure (SOP) for visitors to prevent drug use at concerts held in the state.
State Local Government and Tourism Committee chairman Datuk Ng Suee Lim said the recommendation will be discussed at the state executive council meeting on Wednesday (Jan 8).
He said other improvements to concert SOPs to be discussed include providing scanning equipment to detect and prevent prohibited materials from being brought into the venue.
"We want to tighten the SOP and look at what cooperation can be conducted 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, and this recommendation will be brought up at the meeting so that people who abuse drugs or are drug addicts are not allowed to enter any concerts (venues)," he said during an event here on Monday.
Ng was commenting on the media inquiries about the state government’s review of concert guidelines in Selangor to prevent drug-related deaths.
Selangor Youth, Sports and Entrepreneurship Committee chairman Mohd Najwan Halimi previously said that his team will discuss related measures Ng’s office.
Ng also acknowledged that suspending concert permit issuance will disrupt Visit Selangor year 2025 and impact organisers who have invested money in concert preparations.
He said that currently there were no concerts that needed to be postponed, except for one concert that was supposed to be held in Bandar Sunway next week being moved instead to Kuala Lumpur.
Last Friday, the Selangor police announced a temporary suspension of concert permits in the state until the investigation into the deaths of four individuals who died after attending the Pinkfish Concert in Bandar Sunway, Subang Jaya, is completed.
Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the immediate order would remain in force until his team is confident that organisers can give a guarantee they can control the concerts, especially to prevent criminal elements, such as drug distribution at the concerts.
Previously, the media reported that the police were investigating the cause of death of four individuals, in their 20s to 40s, including two women, who attended the New Year's Eve concert, following a police report regarding their deaths made by University Malaya Medical Centre. - Bernama
