Dubai: The Municipality will soon start imposing fines for smoking in public places such as shopping malls, restaurants and entertainment places, said a senior official.
"So far, it has been up to the discretion of the management at public places such as shopping malls and restaurants to completely ban smoking or to have dedicated smoking areas and the civic body has been lenient in imposing fines," said Abdullah Rafeeu, Assistant Director-General for Environment and Public Health Affairs.
Speaking to reporters after a press conference in Dubai he said smoking would be banned at bus stops and at future metro stations. The Roads and Transport Authority has already started a project to construct air-conditioned bus stops in the city.
"The Local Order No 11 of 2003, stipulates that in order to protect public health, the competent authority [the municipality] can introduce necessary measures for banning smoking in public places such as areas of mass transit, shopping centres, entertainment locations, restaurants, coffee shops, etc," said Rafeeu.
He said the municipality had so far not imposed fines for smoking in public areas but would do so eventually once proper arrangements are made to restrict smokers.
The civic body banned smoking in all shopping malls in Dubai on October 15, 2004 and asked restaurants to have dedicated areas for smokers but it withdrew its decision to impose fines following complaints from the management of malls and restaurants.
Have your say
Should the no smoking ban be extended to all public places? Do you think it will help people reduce/quit smoking? Share your views at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or send your comments below.
Your comments
It should have been done long back. But it is better to be late than never.
The ban should be imposed immediately in places like elevators. Another very important area is to ban throwing cigarette butts from running cars.
Ajayan U
Dubai,UAE
I thing it is good idea, but DM should do it in a right way. Like make a law, something like - no smoking in shopping malls, but in that case, every shopping mall should have smoking rooms (quantity and size should be depended on size of the mall).
S
Sharjah,UAE
I appreciate the new rules of no smoking at public places. Some times many peoples don't care of rules. so, please check the public places, restaurants and some entertainment places.
Riluvan
Dubai,UAE
Smoking should be banned in malls and all public areas. I am afraid to take my son to malls. Passive smoking is very injurious to health.This is good idea and has to be implemented immediately.
Vetri
Sharjah,UAE
They need to ban smoking but in order to ensure the venues follow suit they need to be able to fine both smokers and the venue itself. This will ensure security personel have a reason to enforce the law, otherwise mall/cafe management will simply turn a blind eye.
Jaideep
Dubai,UAE
If this is an attempt to get people to quit smoking, then it will definitely fail as it did in Europe, USA and Canada. People there did NOT quit smoking cause of such bans. I am 100% pro cigarette banning in ALL transportation facilities, public offices. Not only for public comfort, but also for increased fire safety (even though I am a smoker). However, it is a joke when it comes to cafes, bars and restaurants. You can have smoking areas and non-smoking areas in these venues. It would then be up to the customers to decide where to sit. The municipality can enforce stronger regulations (on ventilation design, fire-fighting systems, etc.) in these sub-divisions. But banning it all together is not viable. It is like a gym banning mp3 players! (I truly could not think of a better simile). Most people cannot workout without music, just as smokers cannot have their cappuccino without a cigarette!
Kareem
Alexandria,Egypt
Absolutely. It will definitely help people cut down and eventually quit smoking. I've seen it work in Canada when people had to stand outside for smoking in -30 degrees, they eventually quit smoking. Same thing will happen here in the hot summer days.
Noman
Dubai,UAE
I appreciate this move. Please go ahead. 10% of smokers are disturbing rest of 90% which is unethical.
Thank you for this course of action. We are waiting for this to take effect.
Yaseen
Dubai,UAE
I am so happy to hear about this news. It is high time. I am a non smoker and I feel the ill effects of passive smoking everyday by arrogant smokers who could careless if it harms or disturbs anybody else. I hope the day comes when the ban the production of cigarettes.
Sanjeev
Dubai,UAE
In my opinion, it should be done and as soon as possible. Us second hand smokers are going through more troubles than those who smoke themselves.
Sara
Dubai,UAE
I am a smoker, but agree that smoking should be regulated in public places but at the same time there should be dedicated smoking zones to encourage smokers to use them otherwise smokers are very likely to smoke in non-smoking areas.
Deepak
Dubai,UAE
As a non smoker, I would appreciate the smoking Ban, but if the fines have to be imposed in malls, restaurants and other public places then a proper guideline is must for smokers.
Manish
Dubai,UAE
I hope that DM is serious this time. The question is - will they be able to stand up against the pressure from the tobacco lobby and shopping mall owners.
Mohammed
Dubai,UAE
I am a heavy smoker. I hope they ban smoking all over UAE. This will help everybody to reduce/quit. It's gonna be great if they even ban it in clubs/bars. But as the number of smokers are high in UAE, I think they withraw it again like the previous time.
NN
Dubai,UAE
I prefer to implement the no smoking ban on all the public places later on if the current goes successful. This law might reduce the smoking habit in chain smokers and up to some extent might help them to quit from smoking.
Majid
Dubai,UAE
This is a good move to curb the public health problems. This will help people who are subjected to passive smoking due to smokers in the public. Further it should be made applicable in all the public places.
Mili
Dubai,UAE
It sure is a good idea. With this law, non-smokers will not suffer from the irritating smell of cigarettes and it will lessen health hazard. However, it may not really help smokers to quit.
Venald
Abu Dhabi,UAE
The no smoking ban should be extended to all public places. However, I think it would not help reduce or quit smoking. But it would result in less passive smoking.
Megha
Dubai,UAE
I do not personally believe that a smoking ban effects how many cigarettes a person smokes! Nor does price. However, it would be nice for an individual to have an option of either smoking or non smoking seating or areas in some of the public places. I have found that most smokers that can not eat after a meal, or have a ciggy in a bar just plain and simply will not go to the establishment and their business will be terribly affected by loss of business.
Debbie
Dubai,UAE
Yes. Smoking should be banned from the public shopping centres, entertainment locations, restaurants, coffee shops.
This is good for our children's future health.
It would be a wonderfull to go to the free smoking Mall. I hope this will happen soon.
Alissa Paille
dubai,uae
I'm so glad to hear of the move to ban smoking in shopping malls. These places do not have good ventilation and every time I go shopping I am overwhelmed by the amount of smoke there is, and the inconsideration of people smoking in such closed areas.
Azza J
Dubai,UAE
In UK the cigarettes are priced at GBP 5.50 (for a pack of 20) which is 7 times more expensive than the UAE. Smoking is banned in almost all public areas. All cigarette packs have written warnings over them. The legal age of smkoking has been raised from 16 to 18 years. Despite all these efforts, smoking continues to rise in UK. Independent study groups show that youngsters are 500% more likely to purchase a pack of cigarettes than buy a basket of fruits or vegetables. All the measures taken by the UK government are not enough. This is because the main reason behing smoking is lack of education (about its harmful effects).
Foad
London,UK
It will not make us stop smoking, we will just meet at home instead of going to the coffee shop or restaurants for dinner.
Maryam
Sharjah,UAE
Smoking at public places should be completely banned and must be enforced. I don't care if it will help people quit smoking but am more interested to avoid inhaling what I hate (cigarette smoke from others). Any body who wants to smoke should do so at home or in allocated areas.
Imran
Dubai/Aachen,UAE/Germany
