Manama: When Tunisian authorities in September said that they would be putting a choke-hold on smokers with a new law that further restricts where people can light up, few believed that there would be a strict implementation.
The argument was that the government that was making millions of dinars from the sale of cigarettes would be not be keen on applying new legislation that would deprive it of a lucrative source of revenues.
However, with the historic zero-smoking date of March 19 inexorably approaching, the government has not recoiled under the repeated ostentatious and discreet onslaughts of businesses and smokers and kept the pace of its relentless drive against smoking in public.
In its latest argument, it said that the TD 200 million ($14.5 million) spent by the health ministry to cure smoking-related diseases in 2008 could have been used for other services.
Recent reports have indicated that the number of high school girls who smoked was rising amid speculation of influences from movies where cigarettes are omnipresent. "Many of these girls like to smoke because they think it is cool for them to be seen holding a cigarette. They believe it gives the impression they are liberated and emancipated," Mohammad Ali, who sold cigarettes near a café in central Tunis, said. "They claim that the cigarette boosts their self-confidence and gives them a privileged status in the school."
Figures released by competent international organisations have raised the alarm in Tunisia. Around 35 per cent of the people smoke at least one cigarette a day, and despite tremendous efforts by the government, only 3,400 said that they gave up smoking in 2009.
The health ministry discovered that an average of around 20 Tunisians died daily from smoking-related diseases and that most Tunisians started smoking at the age of 13, mainly "just for fun" or to "see what it is like."
Women who never dared to smoke in public in the past have now taken bolder steps and often sit in cafés holding cigarettes. An average of 10 per cent of Tunisian women smoke, a study indicated.
Shocked by the figures, the government said that it would seek to remedy to the situation and mobilized its forces to bring down the figures and tackle abuses.
In September 2009, it said that all cafés and cafeterias had to comply with new legislation that would ban smoking and impose a TD25 (&19) fine on violators and a fine of TD 500 ($362) on café owners who could also lose their licence. The law said that cafés owners had six months before the full implementation of the law.
Mondher Zanaidi, the health minister, anticipating resistance, warned that the campaign would not be stopped or weakened and that the authorities were determined to take stringent action to ensure a zero-smoking environment.
The government's focus on cafés is based on the fact that the country has around 30,000 cafés.
However, café owners have complained that the ban on smoking would eventually result in the sacking of employees who would not be needed after most customers would shun the places used to drink a glass of coffee or tea, smoke a cigarette and chat with friends and neighbours.
According to Order 2611, smoking is fully banned in restaurants with closed areas less than 50 square metres unless they set up a smoking corner with an area of 15 metres.
In restaurants, cafés and cafeterias with closed areas exceeding 50 square metres, half of the area should be designated for smokers. A partition should be erected to avoid the spread of polluted air and all facilities must be equipped with air purifiers.
However, owners said that it would be difficult to designate half of the café as a non-smoking area to comply with the law.
"The area should be in fact proportionate with the number of smokers. In all cases, the decision should be postponed until all cafés are adequately equipped with air purification equipment," Hammadi, owner of Café Ribat, said.
Yousuf Sakka, a cafeteria owner, said that there was a need for further clarifications before the implementation of the law.
"A crucial issue would be to identify who is supposed to pay the fine. Is it the cafeteria owner or the manager?" he asked.
His personal problem, he insisted, was how to stop people from smoking.
"I simply cannot tell my clients, especially the ones I know every well, not to smoke. These are people who are often older than me and I would be ashamed to tell them to either leave the cigarette outside or to leave the premises," he said.
However, Yousuf said that he would warn them against operations by the police on the lookout for smokers.
"Another solution could be to post a note in large character saying that smoking is permitted only between 5 and 8 am and 6 and 7 pm. That way they either limit their favourite activity in time or come to the cafeteria only at the specific timings," he said.
But, setting aside his light suggestions, Yusuf said that his cafeteria catered for public and private sector employees working in the neighbourhood who went there for a coffee and short puff.
"Now if they cannot smoke in their offices or companies and they are not allowed to smoke here, what can they do? They cannot go on for hours and hours until they reach home," he said.
A worse problem is what women smokers should do.
"They cannot smoke here and they do not want to smoke outside because our society still refuses to see women smoke in the streets," he said.
Fethi El Mouldi, one of Tunisia's best-known lawyers, said that the discrimination between smokers and non-smokers was welcome.
"I believe that the regulation to divide cafés between zones for smokers and non-smokers is positive discrimination because it is a health issue," he said. "Purifying the air is important even though cafés and restaurants might be gasping for air."
A restaurant owner said that he had mixed feelings about the ban. "I cannot impose the ban on the smokers. At the same time, in a restaurant, there are many people who hate to become passive smokers," said Jamal Behouri. "I am also keen on the clients not staying too long after eating to smoke a cigarette, so I will have no partition or separation. It will be a zero-smoking restaurant," he said.
Hisham Mhiri said that he was confident his restaurant would not be affected. "The law is there to be respected. I have lived in Europe and I saw how the Europeans complied with the laws governing smoking in restaurants," said Hisham who owned a restaurant in Antwerp. "It is a matter of habit and people might need some time to get used to the ban, but they will eventually accept it," he said.
Anissa, a university student, welcomed the decision. "I will feel much more at ease now. I used to suffer a lot whenever I went out with friends to a cafeteria because people, even friends, did not want to be told not to light up," she said. "But now under the new law, I will not have to endure the stinking smell of cigarettes around me," said the 21-year-old student.
Imed said that he would find it difficult to sit among friends and not smoke his usual shisha. "I have carefully selected my café because of the high quality of shishas they have. The owner would of course comply with the law in order not to lose his licence, but I am sure that he would not keep a place for non-smokers," said the young man working in a car hire agency.
"This means that he will make it a zero-tolerance place for smokers and I will either to move elsewhere or get used to spending hours there without a puff. I will have to see," he said.
