Legal Committee consulted for shisha smoking regulation

Closed-rooms or special corners should be designated for the smoking of shisha at public cafes and entertainment places, stressed the members of the Central Municipal Council (CMC) yesterday. However, the CMC members also observed that allocation of such private corners and spaces would further encourage young people to smoke shisha, a highly risky phenomenon from both the social and health perspectives. As a preventive measure, the members then considered banning shisha smoking altogether as it could not be considered as imposing limitations on personal freedom but rather as a health regulation for the society and young people in particular. And accordingly, the council decided to refer the issue to its Legal Committee for further study and to prepare the necessary recommendations in this respect after consulting the specialists in the field. At its bi-weekly regular session yesterday, the CMC discussed various other municipal issues and reviewed the related responses of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME). These included the response regarding a previous CMC recommendation on banning men from working in shops selling women’s clothes and accessories, including dressmakers, and reserving such jobs exclusively for women. The MME said that the Ministry of Economy and Commerce has sent a correspondence to all shops selling women’s undergarments to stop hiring men and keep the jobs exclusively for women in respect for the local customs and traditions.Another MME response was combating of the phenomenon of some young people modifying the exhaust of their vehicles and motorbikes for enhanced sound in addition to playing loud music at night in various neighbourhoods causing annoyance to residents, besides polluting the environment. The council saw the response as sufficient and would tackle the problem in due time.Similarly, the Council praised the response of the MME regarding the crackdown on the violations regarding banning the accommodations of  labourers’ groups among family residential areas, which helped in considerably limiting the problems arising out of such illegal practices.