Over 1,000 people fined for smoking in prohibited areas

Between January 1 and February 28 this year, a total of 1,154 instances of smoking in prohibited areas were recorded by authorities, the Health Bureau said in a statement.
Officers have conducted a total of 728,574 inspections in different areas across the city since the Tobacco Prevention and Control Law came into force in 2012. So far, 25,307 people have been accused of smoking in prohibited venues.
92.9 percent of offenders caught smoking in prohibited areas were male. 701 fines were issued to Macau residents (61.1 percent), while 397 fines were applied to tourists (34.6 percent). 50 were issued to non-resident workers (4.4 percent).
At the top of the list for venues in which authorities recorded the most infractions were games arcades (183 cases), internet cafés (179), parks, gardens and leisure facilities (144). The Health Bureau added that 35.5 percent of prosecutions concerned offenses around the Tap Seac area. In 52 cases, police were called in to intervene.
Since the beginning of 2015, 864 offenders have paid fines.
The Health Bureau and the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) carried out 73 inspections of casino premises between January 1 and February 28. 73 people have been accused of smoking in prohibited areas, of which 97.3 percent were male and 2.7 percent female. 59 fines were applied to tourists and 14 to Macau residents.
The bureau announced last month that it aims to implement a full smoking ban in Macau’s casinos. This would mean that smoking would be prohibited on mass gaming floors and within VIP rooms. Current smoking lounges would also be forced to close if the bill is approved.
Lawmaker Angela Leong recently criticized the government for constantly changing its stance regarding a full smoking ban on casinos, TDM English News reported. She recalled that gaming operators have spent large sums of money to comply with smoking regulations.
“The government keeps changing their decision. It has happened many times and this is causing casino operators a lot of trouble. We calculate that we have invested over MOP2 billion,” Ms Leong said. CP