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Dubai: Malls should have smoking rooms to prevent shoppers having to walk through smoke, a Dubai Municipality official has said.
Ahmad Al Shammari, Acting Director of the Municipality's Public Health Department, said: "All shopping centres should have a special room or place for smoking - BurJuman has a room on the third floor. Because of the new regulations, you see most people smoking in front of the gate, in front of the shopping centres. When you enter the centre or mall, you smell very bad - you can smell this smell." Smoking in shopping malls was banned on September 15 last year, and carries a Dh1,000 fine.
Security guards will ask individuals to extinguish cigarettes if they are caught smoking in malls, and have been instructed to call the police if smokers refuse to comply, once reminded.
Al Shammari added there are no plans to increase the price of cigarettes.
"If you don't think about your health, it doesn't matter how much you are going to spend."
He clarified that import duty on tobacco is likely to increase, in line with Government regulations.
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