Sunday, Jan 15, 2017

Dubai: Dubai Municipality has asked Department of Economic Development not to renew licences of 119 cafes and closing their activities for violating the terms of the Federal Law on Tobacco Control, a senior official said on Sunday.

Redha Salman, director of occupational health and safety department of the municipality, said that 571 cafes have also been issued fines during an inspection campaign regarding compliance to the law, which also covers cafes.

“The law prohibits offering shishas in cafes near mosques, educational institutions, clubs and residential areas; offering shishas without permission; violating items in the permits; and the presence of children less than 18 years inside the cafes,” added Salman.

He pointed out that the municipality has launched inspection campaigns on cafes in Dubai to ensure compliance to the provisions of the Federal Law No. (15) of 2009 on Tobacco Control and its Executive Order No. 24 of 2013 after it entered into force.

“We will cover shisha cafes operating in all regions of the emirate of Dubai by conducting a field survey of them. The first phase will be the regulating of shisha smoking in cafes and restaurants located near educational institutions, schools, kindergartens, places of worship, hospitals and residential neighbourhoods. We will take action on shops that are non-compliant with the area requirements.”

In the second phase, he added, the municipality will be regulating shisha smoking in cafes located in shopping areas, malls, hotel facilities and private areas for development, as well as areas that do not meet other planning conditions, and shops that are non-compliant with their area requirements.

He added that the municipality’s Public Health and Safety Department will consider applications and decide on issuing permits for designated smoking areas to the establishments and cafes that meet the requirements of the law and its executive regulations.

He stressed that the Dubai Municipality working teams are continuing to apply the implementation plan of the law, which would not exclude cafes and restaurants located in the free zones.

Box

Work on Dh100m children’s park to start

Dubai Municipality will start the construction of a specialised park for children. Hussain Nasser Lootah, director-general of Dubai Municipality, said that the construction work of the Dh100 million project will commence very soon and the park will be ready by September 2019.

The park will have all children-related specifications to provide an entertainment and knowledge experience for children. It will be designed catering to the children’s physical and intellectual capabilities, as well as their safety.

There will be facilities for group games for children of different age groups. All facilities will be easy to use for children with special needs, including the entry, exit points and the toilets. Additionally, specific games will be designed to suit children with special needs.The location of the park will be revealed at a later stage.

Staff Report

Gulf News 2017. All rights reserved.