Enforcement Starts on Smokers in Orchard Road from 1 April 2019

Three-month advisory period ends on 31 March 2019. More than 50 Designated Smoking Areas available in the Orchard Road No Smoking Zone.

For the Designated Smoking Areas, click HERE.

The advisory approach in the first three months of the implementation of the Orchard Road NSZ is to give members of the public sufficient time to adjust to this smoking prohibition extension.

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From January 2019 to the middle of March 2019, the number of advisories issued decreased by more than 70%, from a high average of 1,900 advisories a day in the first week of January to an average of 550 advisories a day in mid-March 2019.

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Since 18 March 2019, NEA enforcement officers have started to issue written, instead of verbal, advisories to smoking offenders in the Orchard Road NSZ. The number of advisories has gone down further to 87 a day, representing a 95% reduction in advisories the start to the end of the three-month advisory period. During this period, when advised by NEA officers and volunteers to comply with the law to not light-up in the smoking prohibited areas, the vast majority of smokers have been receptive and proceeded to smoke in the DSAs.

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End of three-month advisory period

The three-month advisory period will end on 31 March 2019. From 1 April 2019, enforcement action will be taken against all persons who smoke in the public areas within the NSZ other than at the DSAs. Those caught smoking outside the DSAs may face a composition fine of $200, or up to the maximum court fine of $1,000. 

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Smoking regulations and enforcement

Under the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Act, it is an offence to smoke or hold a lit cigarette or any other form of tobacco product which is alight or emitting smoke in a smoking prohibited area. This is because a lit cigarette is still emitting harmful smoke.

NEA reminds smokers to light up only in areas where smoking is permitted, such as the DSAs within the Orchard Road NSZ. Operators and managers of smoking prohibited premises are also required by law to request smokers to cease smoking or direct them to leave the premises if they wish to continue smoking.

A strict stance is taken against smokers who flout the law and NEA officers patrol smoking hotspots, both proactively and in response to public feedback. In 2018, more than 30,000 tickets were issued for smoking in prohibited areas.

However, given the large number of places where smoking is prohibited, it is not possible for NEA officers to watch over them all the time.

Everyone can play a part by reminding smokers not to light up in smoking prohibited places, and to be socially responsible and considerate when smoking in public places.

For More Details, Please Visit HERE.

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