Pakistan: Violators Pay for Breaching Smoking Laws in Capital

Source from:  The News (pk)  02/22/2013

Though not that impressive, results of the Islamabad district administration's crackdown on smoking violation show things are surely changing for the better.

According to an official of the district administration, Rs92,000 was fined to owners of 37 cafes, restaurants and snooker clubs all through January this year during the crackdown supported by the Tobacco Control Cell over violation indoor and underage smoking restrictions.

The official told this scribe that most of these establishments were located in posh sectors of the capital and that their owners were fined for violating the ban on sale of tobacco products indoors and to people under 18.

He said that Cafe Burnout was fined Rs20,000, Civil Junction Rs15,000, X-9 Rs10,000, Cave Rs9,000 and Hangout Rs7,000, while Jungle Cafe, Midnight and Incant are were sealed for serious violations of smoking control laws.

According to him, the crackdown is the third phase of a plan executed last year to make Islamabad a smoke-free city.The first session was about creating public awareness of the dangers of tobacco use, second-hand tobacco smoke and tobacco control laws, and the second about issuance of warnings to all concerned against violating smoking restriction. Enditem