The Health Bureau of the special administrative region has licensed nearly 550 smoking lounges at 31 casinos since the beginning of the year
Macau’s Health Bureau – Serviços de Saúde (SS) – authorized 546 smoking lounges at 31 of the city’s casinos between January 1 and April 30, the government agency said in a statement from earlier today.
SS has received requests from 35 city casinos to license 583 smoking lounges. The authorization of special smoking areas comes as part of Macau’s newly introduced rules that ban smoking in all enclosed public spaces. The new regulations concerning the city’s casino industry came into effect on January 1 after growing discontent with the previous smoking policies in the Chinese special administrative region known to be the only place in the country where casino gambling is legal.
The Health Bureau said today that it has conducted 660 inspections together with the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau between January and April and has detected 596 violators of the new smoking rules. The individuals have been prosecuted for smoking in areas where this is strictly forbidden.
37 More Serious Incidents Recorded
According to the latest SS report, about 82.7% of the violators were tourists visiting Macau and just over 17% were residents of the city. The Health Bureau also pointed out that Le Royal Arc Casino has been among the locations where the most violations of the new smoking rules were registered in the four months to April 30. The property operates under the gaming license of casino and hospitality company SJM Holdings.
The SS said that 37 of the cases of violations of the new rules required assistance from local police authorities. One of the incidents involved a police officer firing a warning shot outside the Galaxy Macau casino resort after three Mainland Chinese men who were caught smoking in a prohibited area started an argument.
Smoking had been prohibited at Macau’s casinos for years, with VIP rooms being the only places where patrons had been allowed to smoke. The city introduced new citywide rules on smoking on January 1, 2018. Under those rules, smoking is prohibited in all public spaces.
The city’s casino industry was granted a one-year grace period, during which VIP rooms still allowed smoking. That grace period expired on December 31, 2018. Macau’s licensed casino operators are required to obtain permission from the Health Bureau in order for their patrons to be able to smoke at specially designated lounges at the gambling properties.
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