Compromise deal to water down smoking ban

THE HOUSE Health Committee yesterday reached a compromise on the Green Party’s proposal for a total smoking ban.

Green Party MP George Perdikis agreed to amend his bill after disagreements were expressed by AKEL and EDEK regarding a ban in all public areas and entertainment establishments.

Whereas Perdikis had initially called for a complete ban everywhere, now he has agreed to change it in a way that would allow restaurants, nightclubs and other entertainment areas to build separate areas for smokers.

“Following harsh disagreements and intense discussions, we concluded on an honourable compromise regarding the smoking ban in entertainment areas,” Perdikis explained after the meeting.

He added that he wasn’t satisfied with his proposal’s alteration, but said he had conceded because he was obliged to either accept nothing or meet the other MPs halfway.

Committee Chairman Eleni Theocharous of DISY said Cyprus was heading towards a complete smoking ban in public areas; a measure that would benefit public health as well as the economy.

“The Health Committee is leaning towards a smoking ban, allowing establishment owners to create completely separate areas for smokers, with proper ventilation and strict preconditions, inside which people can follow their choice to a slow and gradual suicide,” said Theocharous.

She added that the new law, when passed by the Plenum, would be implemented towards the end of 2009, which would allow establishment owners to build the necessary substructure.

EDEK’s Marinos Sizopoulos, who has from the start been against a total ban, said he was satisfied with the latest developments, as his party’s positions were being adopted and respected by almost the entire Committee.

“The regulation of such serious social issues must be dealt with the necessary seriousness in order to give correct and substantial solutions without creating added problems for the future,” the MP pointed out.

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.