He said public outrage was expressed over social media as they feared the duty free status would be withdrawn.

“Those who have written that Langkawi’s duty-free status will be withdrawn have got it all wrong.

“The duty-free status will stay, only cigarette and liquor sales will be restructured to prevent leakages,” he said here.

He said under the new ruling, only 18 stores in Langkawi would be allowed to sell duty-free cigarettes and liquor.

Owners of cars registered on the island must submit a bank guarantee before their vehicles can be brought out.

According to him, these measures would be enforced by the Customs Department and he was briefed on the matter here last Monday.

Nawawi said he would be meeting Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow to discuss views of local residents on the implementation of the new regulations.

When tabling the Revised Budget 2016 on Jan 28 last year, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the government would restructure the selling channels for cigarettes and liquor as well as tighten tax exemption on imported vehicles in duty-free islands.

He said these measures would not affect the local population and tourists at the duty-free islands.