Macau Legislators Pass Bill To Enforce Smoking Lounges In VIP Gaming Regions
Macau's Legislative Assembly has approved an amendment bill that will more tighten rules surrounding smoking on casino floors. Remi poker Underneath the new law, VIP gamblers will no longer be permitted to smoke on the gaming floors.
So far Macau's casinos had banned smoking on mass industry gambling floors but VIP gamblers were allowed to smoke in gaming regions committed for them. Even so with this new amendment, casinos will want to carve out a separate location for smokers.
The newly-modified Regime on Tobacco Prevention and Manage will come into force on January 1, 2018. Macau casinos will be provided a year's time to create smoking lounges that are not a element of the VIP gaming area. All the lounges in the casino such as the ones on the mass market floors will need to have to comply with enhanced technical standards . The new technical specs are expected to be released shortly via an executive buy.
The amendment was passed soon after a second reading in the legislative assembly and a vigorous debate. Several lawmakers are opposed to any form of smoking within the casinos. Ng Kuok Cheonga, a vocal opponent of allowing smoking within the casino explained that the amendment was a policy U-turn and a regressive move.
Calling the smoking lounges toxic chambers, he pointed out that the chemical residues from smoking persisted in the vicinity. He is recommending that the casino operators generate outdoor smoking lounges. An additional legislator , Au Kam San, explained that this might not be the last of the legislation regarding smoking in casinos and stated that the bill may well be revisited.
In a statement Au Kam San mentioned,
The government explained this revised bill is a step forward, which signifies there will be far more moves in the approaching years… With far more changes of regulation in the future, gaming operators will have to alter their facilities… and that needs fiscal investment
Two legislators Zheng Anting and Angela Leong On Kei who are also executives belonging to the gaming business stated that the government was ignoring the needs of casino staff by not allowing the set up of smoking lounges in their resting places.
Leong who is an executive director with SJM Holdings Ltd also highlighted that smaller satellite casinos that are operated by third-party vendors under licenses of the six major casino operators may not have the money required to set up the services according to the specified technical standards. She asked that they be provided added time and help. Brokerage JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd had stated in a March report that the influence of the smoking ban will have a minimal impact on gaming revenue.