David Darmanin The publication of a legal notice to ban the use of designated smoking rooms has not gone down well with stakeholders, as spokesperson for the Tobacco Industry Advisory Council, Andrew Borg-Cardona, told MaltaToday that “it is always wrong to cause people to make investments and then change tack”.
Designated rooms are enclosed spaces inside restaurants and bars, which according to law must be totally separate from non-smoking areas, have walls from floor to ceiling and be situated in such a manner that they do not require non-smokers to pass through them.
After a 2004 law made indoor smoking illegal, with the exemption of those establishment owners who fulfilled strict criteria for designated smoking rooms, the new law will make it no longer possible to lawfully smoke or allow smoking inside such areas after 2013.
”The tobacco industry has always advocated reasonableness and co-operation over imposition, and we remain of the opinion that ours is the more acceptable course of action,” Borg-Cardona said. “However, respect for the law is paramount.”
Although the tobacco industry has not raised the issue of how many enterprises invested in the construction of smoking areas, Borg Cardona said that “from personal observation, I don’t think they (smoking rooms) were very popular.”
“The industry has no information as to the costs incurred, but it is always wrong, I think it can fairly be said, to cause people to make investments and then change tack.”
Meanwhile, establishment owners who could avail themselves of outdoor spaces when the smoking ban came into force were lucky enough to be able to host smokers within their premises without having to enter significant investments. Others, in a bid to retain patrons, have opted to introduce indoor smoking facilities against considerable expense. Owners of these establishments now feel discriminated against as the only operators standing to gain after 2013 are those with outdoor spaces available – the majority of which have already capitalised on the 2004 smoking ban by spending very little on, for instance, outdoor gas heaters in order to make outdoor patronage in winter months more comfortable. Some establishments, to add value, have also invested in canopies that create an indoor environment albeit being ‘outdoors’, thus making it possible for one to smoke away freely, warmly and comfortably. The application of this loophole is practiced by many, including a major operator at the Malta International Airport.
“I don’t think this is really a matter of discrimination,” Borg-Cardona said. “In a sense it is the luck of the draw, certain owners have premises that are more welcoming to smokers. Others don’t.”
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