Establishments have been putting up unauthorised smoking permit signs in order to allow customers to smoke, local media has reported.
Under a new ‘no smoking’ regulation that came into effect on January 1, food and beverage establishments obtain a special permit from the Ministry of Health in order to designate smoking areas.
Centre for Community Health and Disease Control (CCHDC) Deputy Director Hassan Mohamed told the Sun Online news service that the centre had been receiving complaints regarding non-permitted establishments designating smoking areas for its customers.
“Some of the parties that have not obtained the proper permit have started to designate their own smoking and no smoking areas for the customers,” he was reported as saying.
“We are taking action regarding this. We are receiving a lot of complaints regarding this too.”
(0)Dislikes
(0)Related Posts
Livestock import ban following anthrax scare in Tamil Nadu- Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim to join PPM “very soon”
- Universal Enterprises Chairman appointed head of MIAL
- President Waheed departs to Kuwait on official visit
- Off-duty soldier stabbed in Male’
- Foundations in place for new 10-storey police building
Smoking in public environment is not at all a good thing. No doubt about it!
But banning smoking in the public environment as it is outlined in the local regulations, is thought to be more of a madness than anything good!
As a hotelier points out, certain criteria is ruining some small cafe's and small time hotel business because they are not issued permits just because their floor areas do not fit into the allowable criteria!
He also said that the funny thing about this was, that certain places which had enough sufficient floor area that fits into the outlined criteria, were permitted (at a cost), to have areas for smoking.
Areas for smoking can be distinguished with a painted line or a rope separating the smoking and the non smoking with their heads virtually touching each other, and smoke from the smoking area passing into the non smoking area freely, and the non smokers can freely inhale the smoke and the stick of it!
If this were true, I cannot help laughing at the quality and perseverance of putting these regulations together and enforcing on the public, especially with such fines as MVR 500/= (US$ 32+) per offence!