Smoke-free Dubai: Rules strictly in force - click to know where you can and cannot smoke

Salah Amiri, Assistant Director-General of Dubai Municipality has stated that the civic body has issued a comprehensive guide regulating the smoking in public places.

The guide contains instructions, guidelines and conditions for controlling smoking in shopping centres, hotels, restaurants and cafes.

The guide also includes conditions for areas specified for smoking and sheesha shops along with the details of violations and penalties.

Salah pointed out that the municipality will collect information about the entire illegal places for smoking including cafes and sheesha shops in the emirate of Dubai to warn them to correct violations within a maximum of five months starting from the date of issuance of Regulations for the Law on Tobacco Control, adopted by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The rules

Sultan Suwaidi, Head of Public Safety Section at Public Health and Safety Department, informed that the municipality will start visits to those public places including cafes and sheesha shops to notify them on the necessity of complying with the regulations of Federal Law No 15 of 2009 on Tobacco Control and the Decision No 24 of 2013.

“The licenses of cafes and sheeshas that allow customers to smoke in closed areas will be cancelled. In addition, these establishments will not be permitted to open in residential areas without having a distance of 150 metres from houses, schools and mosques,” Sultan said.

“The regulation focuses on putting terms regarding the required area for getting permission to allocate smoking places in addition to health requirements in applying the public safety standards in those places,” he explained.

“Smoking will not be allowed in any restaurant built in less than 1,000 square feet and it will be completely prohibited in entrances, corridors, lifts, elevators, health facilities, entrainment game areas, offices, cinema halls, meeting and conference halls, warehouses of shopping centres, canteens, places of prayer and ablution, areas of employees and rest rooms,” he further said.

“Smoking areas in restaurants should not excess than 50 per cent of the dining area, which should be designed in a manner that does not force the non-smokers to pass through smoking areas,” he continued.

“Each smoker in the allocated areas should be given 20 square feet of space to avoid any congestion taking care of the health requirements in terms of engineering, control of air pressure in non-smokers areas to be 5:7 allowing the air flow easily to outside.

“The doors should be automatic and sheesha preparing area must be separated from food preparation area,” Suwaidi said.

“The working hours of cafes and sheesha shops are restricted to 10 am to 12.30 am and the tobacco products should not be sold to the age group under 18 years or delivered to unauthorised places,” he added.

Suwaidi also urged the public to cooperate with the civic body to make Dubai the most comfortable city to live in the world, and report any violence calling DM's hotline: 800900.

Stringent action

Salah Amiri said: “Stringent actions will be taken against violating smokers in accordance with the local directives of Tobacco Control for municipalities in the country and in a bid to prevent the spreading of smoking phenomenon among the youth. It also aims to save the non-smokers from the negative impacts of smoking in public places.”

“Although the civic body has already issued a decision prohibiting the smoking in public places, this move comes in tune with the current global fight against smoking and as the practical implementation of the international agreement signed by the UAE for Tobacco Control that stipulates the protection of public places and facilities from the harmful affects of smoking,” he explained.

“Confirming its social responsibility, the municipality is bound to comply with the regulations of Anti-Tobacco Code in the context of increasing tendency for smoking among the teenagers of new generation,” Redha Salman, Director of Public Health and Safety Department said.

'We will strive our best to create a new generation who are aware of the dreadful consequences of smoking and need of a healthy society to build the county's future.

“Hence we hope that all owners of public places such as hotels, shopping centres and cafes will completely cooperate with the authorities,” Redha said.

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