Ammon News - By Khetam Malkawi

AMMAN - The Jordan Restaurants Association (JRA) has asked for more time to finish a study on the feasibility of prohibiting smoking in classified restaurants, a JRA representative said on Saturday.

JRA President Zeid Goussous told The Jordan Times that the association was supposed to finalise the study by mid-January, but needs more time to amend it. He did not say when the study would be completed.

Goussous explained that although the association's original proposal recommended implementing the smoking ban in restaurants gradually over a five-year period, the JRA now believes this plan may not work and wants to study other possibilities, such as continuing to allow smoking in the Kingdom's bars, nightclubs and argeelah cafés, or allowing smoking in restaurants after 11:00pm.

He added that association members are still afraid that the industry might be negatively affected by the implementation of the smoking ban in restaurants.

The Ministry of Health started implementing the Public Health Law prohibiting smoking in public places gradually from the beginning of the year, banning smoking in public institutions in January. The law was enforced in the Kingdom's shopping malls and Queen Alia International Airport in March, and in fast food restaurants in June.

However, phase two of the implementation plan, which stipulated prohibiting smoking in classified restaurants as of January 1, 2010, has not yet been enforced.

“We could not arrive at a specific plan to prohibit smoking in classified restaurants, as we are afraid it will cause us to lose customers and affect our business,” Goussous said, adding that the association does not want restaurant owners to protest or violate the law if they are forced to implement it.

He cited as an example a protest by restaurant and coffeehouse owners in Turkey after the implementation of a public smoking ban in that country.

On July 15 of last year, tea and coffeehouse owners gathered in the centre of the Aegean port city of Izmir in western Turkey to smoke water pipes in protest against the ban, Reuters reported.

Malek Habashneh, director of the Health Ministry's awareness department, told The Jordan Times that the ministry might call for a meeting with the JRA next week.

“We must find a solution for smoking in restaurants, and we do not want to extend the implementation any longer,” Habashneh said.

According to the law, public places include hospitals, healthcare centres, schools, cinemas, theatres, libraries, museums, public and non-governmental buildings, public transport vehicles, airports, closed playgrounds, lecture halls and any other location to be determined by the health minister.

The law also stipulates that any person caught smoking in a public place is subject to between one week and one month imprisonment or a JD15-JD25 fine. The same penalties apply to those who sell cigarettes to underage youths.

(Jordan Times)

*** Thank God no cigarettes no Ma'asal (Nargileh tobacco), a sign posted by Tala Muqbil, owner of a convenience store in Amman, who not only doesn't sell any form of tobacco, but also doesn't allow anyone carrying a lit cigarette of entering his store.

Muqbil noted that he began advocating quitting smoking among his sons, and soon his neighboring store vendors began to follow his lead. (Petra Photo)