Thousands of infractions recorded
Macau enacted a ban on smoking in indoor public places in 2012, but the policy did not extend to casinos, which were allowed to retain smoking in their VIP rooms and also have smoking lounges for mass market players. Casinos also were given a year to ensure at least half the space on their gaming floors were smoke-free, reports the Macau Business Daily.
In a turnaround on the existing policy, the city government is now considering a blanket ban on smoking in casinos. That doesn’t sit well with Angela Leong On Kei, legislator and executive director of casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd., the gaming enclave’s leading casino operator.
Leong points out that Macau’s casino industry has spent more than MOP2 billion (US$250 billion) to improve air quality and enhance ventilation systems to comply with local smoking regulations. For that reason, she says, it’s unfair of the Macanese government to now enact a full smoking ban.
“If the government had implemented a full smoking ban in casinos in the very beginning, then a lot of resources and effort would have been saved,” Leong said on public broadcaster TDM Chinese Radio. She said the government has been “ambiguous” in its smoking policy.
In January, the government proposed amending the Regime for Prevention and Control of Tobacco Use this year, and possibly putting the ban into effect next year. Some industry observers foresee at least a 15 percent drop in revenue if the ban takes effect. But workers and the public seem to favor the change. The Macau Gaming Enterprises Staff Association, a unit of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, has collected 20,000 signatures on a petition to end all indoor smoking.
The Macau Daily Times reports that between in January and February 28, the Health Bureau issued recorded more than 1,150 instances of smoking in prohibited areas at the city’s casinos, and more than 25,00 people have been accused of smoking in prohibited areas since 2012.
Social Affairs Secretary Alexis Tam says the government might consider the idea of “airport-style” smoking lounges. To that, union member and legislator Ella Lei Cheng I said, “The gaming employees don’t really oppose the setting up of smoking lounges. It all depends on whether the companies have good ventilation installed in place near the gaming tables the employees are working at, or whether these tables are placed too near the smoking lounges where the air quality is bound to be a bit worse.”
