‘We’ll close down all the clubs in Cyprus’

CLUB OWNERS yesterday threatened to close down all establishments and lay off staff over the smoking ban. At a meeting in Limassol, the Cyprus Club Owners Association said they were prepared to take drastic measures, including challenging the smoking ban, which came into effect on January 1, in court. “Both on an individual basis and as an association we will definitely be going to the Courts for justice. We have decided to suggest an amendment to the law allowing for exceptions to the smoking ban to small clubs, so that owners themselves can decide what rules their establishment will follow and obtain a relevant licence,” said Fanos Leventis, the association’s president following the ad hoc meeting in Limassol. Yesterday’s meeting was initially organised as a gathering of the district branch of the association, but club owners from all over Cyprus flocked to Limassol to discuss the problems they face following the implementation of the smoking ban. Approximately 80 individuals attended the meeting that took place in a volatile atmosphere, with club owners expressing their desperation at the state of affairs. “We have enough power in our hands to convince those people who have not yet comprehended the serious problems created by the law and I am certain that they will hear what we have to say,” said Leventis. Leventis did not rule out the possibility of a general close-down of clubs throughout the island, while announcing that club owners will have to lay off staff. “Even if we don’t implement a general close-down measure, clubs are in danger of closing as customers are frustrated and complaining. As for firing staff, this is not a threat but a necessity for the survival of our businesses,” he said. The next meeting of the association has been set for Monday January 11 in Nicosia.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.