AMMAN - A ban on smoking in the Kingdom's restaurants is being implemented gradually as agreed on in July between the Ministry of Health and restaurant representatives, Minister of Tourism Zeid Goussous said on Tuesday.
Goussous, the former president of the Jordan Restaurants Association, stressed that the implementation is going ahead as planned and restaurant owners have not requested any review of the Public Health Law, which prohibits smoking in public places, or its method of implementation.
Health Ministry officials confirmed that the ban is being implemented gradually.
"We are still working on changing people's attitudes before fully implementing the ban," Bassam Hijjawi, director of the ministry's primary healthcare directorate, told The Jordan Times yesterday, adding that restaurants are being monitored and issued warnings and fines.
According to the plan, each restaurant was supposed to allocate a separate section for smokers according to its size, but Hijjawi said many restaurants have yet to meet this requirement and have been given more time to do so.
Meanwhile, 206 violators of the smoking ban have been referred to court since the Public Health Law was enforced on May 25, with the majority of violations reported in Amman, according to health ministry figures.
Statistics made available to The Jordan Times showed that 13 restaurants were fined for violating the law in the past two months, while warnings were issued to 81 establishments including shopping malls and restaurants.
The Public Health Law, which prohibits smoking in public places, was implemented gradually starting in early 2009.
The law was enforced in shopping malls and Queen Alia International Airport in March 2009, and in fast-food restaurants in June of the same year.
Although the legislation calls for banning smoking in public institutions, it has not been enforced in full. The Cabinet issued a decision to prohibit smoking in ministries and public institutions, which went into force on May 25, 2010.
According to the law, smoking is prohibited in hospitals, healthcare centres, schools, cinemas, theatres, libraries, museums, public and non-governmental buildings, public transport vehicles, airports, closed playgrounds, lecture halls and any other location to be determined by the health minister.
The law also stipulates that any person caught smoking in a public place is subject to between one week and one month imprisonment or a JD15-JD25 fine. The same penalties apply to those who sell cigarettes to minors.
© Jordan Times 2010
