DUBAI // More than 100 shisha cafes have been fined for flouting rules that state that shisha should not be smoked in front of children and pregnant women.
The fines to 109 cafes were issued in June by the Public Health and Safety Department at Dubai Municipality as part of an ongoing campaign that saw 289 premises inspected in that month.
Engineer Marwan Al Mohammed, director of the department, said: “The municipality has set specific requirements and urges shisha cafes to abide by them as violations will incur fines ranging from Dh20,000 to Dh60,000 and the permit [to sell shisha] will be rescinded and it could lead to the closing down of the establishment, with the cooperation of the Department of Economic Development.
“Cafes serving shisha without a permit will face fines ranging from Dh5,000 to Dh15,000 and the [trade] licence will be revoked.”
The June inspections also saw warnings issued to 28 cafes and 78 permits for smoking areas were approved, reported Aletihad, The National's Arabic sister paper. The value of fines issued amounted to Dh885,000 in total.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
