Mixed reaction to government climb-down

Mixed feelings were expressed yesterday about the postponement of a smoking ban in bars and restaurants, which was to come in force on April 5.

The GRTU - Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, was vehemently opposed to the new smoking regulations. Last Friday, saying he wished to avoid confrontation, Health Minister Louis Deguara announced that bars and restaurants measuring over 60 square metres were to be granted up to six months to comply with the regulations. And establishments under 60 square meters have until April next year to install air purification equipment according to criteria established by the Malta Standards Authority.

All other places stipulated in the legal notice, from government departments to offices, will still be bound by the regulations from April 5.

The GRTU's hospitality and leisure representative, Philip Fenech, rebutted claims that the extension reflected a government weakness. "This was not a weakness, but common sense. The government acted logically in the circumstances, and found the practical way forward," he said.

Mr Fenech said the chamber regarded the extension as a positive development. "We had said it was not going to be practical to introduce the regulations by April 5."

He said the chamber was currently analysing the counter proposal made by the government last Friday. It was also holding discussions with the Malta Standards Authority to decide on the best air purifying equipment.

"We are trying to find the quickest solutions, and are currently holding internal technical meetings to verify the equipment needed and also take stock of which establishments already have an air-purifying system," he said.

Mr Fenech stressed that some of the establishments would need to make structural alterations, many of which required an application to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

A number of problems would have been avoided had consultation taken place before the regulations were published, he said.

In a statement issued yesterday, AD accused the government of breaking its promises on the no-smoking regulations.

"This shows that the government is spineless when dealing with certain business interests and in protecting the nation's health. The health minister should assume his responsibilities after having promised to enforce the legal notice on smoking in public places as from next month only to take it all back at the eleventh hour," AD spokesman Mario Mallia said.

He said that when one considered that a similar legal notice had evaporated into thin air in the mid-1990s, AD could no longer take the Nationalist government seriously on this issue.

"As a green party, AD was four square in favour of the new regulations and we will remain vigilant to ensure that non-smokers, who constitute three quarters of the population, are not once again taken for a ride," he said.

Mr Mallia said AD was concerned about the mention of air purification equipment in establishments under 60 square metres. He said that according to the legal notice, smoking would not have been allowed in any establishment except in designated areas. The party called on the government to clarify this matter, and said that otherwise it would seem that the government had once again resorted to a "quick fix solution".

He also referred to studies that have shown that due to diffusion, odourless carcinogenic substances in cigarette smoke, such as benzene, found their way from smoking areas to non-smoking areas with the consequence that non-smokers were forced to put their health at risk.

"This means that smoking areas that are not physically isolated from non-smoking areas are nothing but a gimmick," he said.

Labour Leader Alfred Sant said he had called the process a hurried one from the start. The health minister had first been very hasty in his decisions, and then changed his stand. "This shows a change of direction," he said.

Contacted by The Times, Dr Sant said there should have been ample time allotted for the regulations to be implemented. Such a decision needed to be implemented gradually to give everyone the chance to adapt.

Health Promotion Department director Mario Spiteri said that although entertainment establishments had been given a concession, the law was not changed in any way. He explained that had the regulations come into force on April 5, enforcing them would have presented a logistical problem.

"Now no one will have the excuse that there was not enough time to come in line with the regulations," he said. Medical Association of Malta (MAM) general secretary Martin Balzan told The Times that the association still maintained there was scientific evidence that passive smoking was dangerous, and linked to lung disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke.

"It is the duty of the authorities to protect those who do not smoke," he said.

Dr Balzan said that if in this six-month period a workable solution could be found for both sides, that would be the best thing. He said the people most exposed to second-hand smoke were the workers.

The MAM secretary general said the incidence of asthma in Malta was one in seven, which meant a person in every other family. One in seven of those who worked in the entertainment industry were sufferers, while one in two had a sufferer in their family.

Dr Balzan said that although the MAM understood that the livelihood of entertainment establishments was important, in the long term health should be a top priority and the citizen safeguarded.

The Malta Chamber of Family Doctors had welcomed the Smoking in Public Places Regulations. In a letter in The Sunday Times, chamber president Pierre Mallia stressed that there was a direct correlation between smoking and a number of diseases, the most common being lung and heart disorders.

"The problem with smoking is that not only does it cause harm to the individual, but it also causes harm to the people who are close to them," he said.

Dr Mallia said it has been shown that a person who lives with a partner who is a heavy smoker is at the same risk of, for example, lung cancer by the passive smoke taken in, while people who smoke in the presence of their children also increase the risk of childhood asthma.

"We must live in a society that puts the welfare of individuals above the market forces of the system they create," he said.

Dr Mallia said the College would take any opportunity to lobby in favour of banning smoking in public places.