HOTELIERS joined bar and restaurant owners yesterday to condemn the lack of options given in the smoking ban as the countdown begins to the big stub-out at midnight tonight.
The new law also bans smoking in hotels, and without allowing for smoking rooms or lobbys.
Zacharias Ioannides, secretary-general of the hoteliers association said in most European countries hotels are given this choice, but in Cyprus “there had been a dogmatic approach to the issue.”
Both the hoteliers and establishment owners urged parliament to rethink certain provisions of the new law as soon as possible. Ioannides said lawmakers should convene as early as January to discuss the law and make the necessary amendments.
Bar and night-club representative body PASIKA yesterday renewed their warnings over the negative effects a smoking ban could have on their business that may also lead to layoffs of staff.
PASIKA , which represents over 3,000 businesses, said they were facing one of the strictest legislations on Europe. “This is the toughest law in Europe after England,” said PASIKA general-secretary Fanos Leventis.
He also wondered “whether this law respects the constitution as it prohibits and takes away the right of creating private venues” for smokers.
“Maybe the state is trying to sterilise our society believing that in this way it will protect its citizens,” Leventis told reporters
He said experience from other countries that implemented similar laws showed that there will be a decline in turnover. He said they had already seen a 40 per cent drop in business this year due to the crisis.
Referring to his colleagues in the business, Leventis said it was with sorrow that they intend “if the decline in turnover extends beyond the expected decline from the economic crisis, they will be forced to lay off staff.”
PASIKA had proposed that night clubs were exempted from the law that bans smoking in all closed places, by allowing owners to have separate non-smoking areas with air quality guaranteed. They also wanted to be able to establish private venues.
“We understand this as a constitutional rights for one to be able to create such venues,” Leventis said.
But House Health Committee chairman Costakis Constantinou said deputies could discuss the issue again if they notice any gaps or omissions during its implementation.
The new law provides for a fine of up to €2,000 for the person caught smoking where they shouldn’t be and also for the person responsible for allowing it to happen.
There are also provisions for on-the-spot fines, which currently stand at €37 – for the smoker – but the cabinet yesterday approved the raising of the fine to €85.
The owners of the establishments will also be charged €85 for each person caught smoking on his premises.
But party-goers tonight can relax a little as police will not be coming down hard on them.
“I think there will be some flexibility because it’s New Year’s Eve,” said police spokesman Michalis Katsounodos. “But after that it will be zero tolerance,” he warned.
