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Sharjah bans smoking

SHARJAH — The Sharjah Municipality yesterday announced a ban on smoking in public places from June 1.

The places where smoking will be prohibited include buses, taxis, public rest rooms, amusement centres, hospitals and health facilities, waiting areas in facilities, hotels, hotel apartments, enclosed shopping malls, restaurants and coffee shops, enclosed entertainment places like cinemas and theatres, enclosed parking spaces, stores, exhibition areas, beauty and hair-cutting salons, health clubs and assembly halls and conference rooms.

Violation of the ban will attract fines of Dh1,000 for individuals and Dh10,000 to Dh20,000 for establishments like hotels and salons that allow smoking.

The civic body will instal signboards in public areas where smoking is banned which will display a telephone number on which people can report violation by anybody.

Hotlines soon

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Dr Salah Al Haj , Director-General of the Sharjah Municipality, said the municipality would set up hotlines dedicated to receive complaints from the public about violation of the ban from June 1. Awareness programmes will be organised from today to educate the owners of the places in which smoking is prohibited about the rules. Many publications on the bad effects of smoking will be distributed among the public.

A large number of inspectors will be hired soon to monitor the implementation of the ban in all parts of Sharjah.

Addressing a Press conference at the Sharjah

Municipal Council Salim Al Owais, Chairperson of the Municipalities and Agriculture Affairs Department (MAAD), said the decision to ban smoking in public places aims at ensuring a safe and healthy life for all Sharjah residents, especially infants.

It is a continuation of previous steps aiming to transform Sharjah into a non-smoking emirate.

Al Owais said statistics indicate that three in 10 residents of the UAE are smokers, which means that millions of people in the country are subjected to passive smoking and consequently, suffer from various diseases. According to experts, 4,000 chemical substances enter the bloodstream due to passive smoking, at least 50 of which cause cancer, not to mention asthma and other lung-related diseases, especially in the infants, he said.

Statistics also indicate that 70 per cent of smokers like to quit the habit but, unfortunately, they fail to realise their goal. “We hope that implementing this decision will encourage them to quit smoking once and for all,” Al Owais added.

• UAE
• UAE