Smoking in public places in Barbados will be outlawed from October 1. This was announced last week by Minister of Health Donville Inniss, who said the ban comes with stiff fines for both smokers and businesses that refuse to comply. It covers rum-shops, bars, restaurants, hotels and Government buildings as well as libraries and museums. Dr Tony Gale (caught here by Kenmore Bynoe during the announcement last Thursday at the Accra Beach Hotel), who spearheaded the fight against tobacco smoke for many years, complained that the ban was a case of too little, too late.
He said Barbados needs to do a lot more to help non-smokers than ban “lighting up” in public places. Gale noted that Barbados was moving too slowly in its crackdown on tobacco smoking, after signing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004 and ratifying it the following year. (NB)
