يبدو أن قوانين منع التدخين في الأماكن العامة تلاحق اللبنانيين والشرق أوسطيين أينما ذهبوا، وجديد تلك المسألة منع التدخين في منطقة براماتا في المدينة الاسترالية سيدني.

فبدءا من 6 تموز 2015 سيبدأ العمل بقانون منع التدخين في مطاعم منطقة براماتا، مما سيؤثر سلبا على المطاعم العربية هناك والتي ترتكز على بيع “النرجيلة” لزبائنها.

ويؤكد صاحب مطعم “براماتا أرماني” مصطفى كريش، ان هذا القانون سيؤثر سلبا على العمل، لان رواد المطعم في غالبيتهم يزورون المطعم فقط من أجل تدخين “النرجيلة”، مضيفا أن “ديكور المطعم” مصمم على الطريقة العربية، حيث يجلس الزبون داخل خيمة ويتناول الطعام ويدخن “النرجيلة” والغليون، ليشعر وكأنه يعيش بنمط شرق أوسطي.

وشدّد كريش على أنه “قلق من اقرار هذا القانون لأنه سيؤثر سلبا على مدخول المطعم خصوصا أن لديه زهاء 50 موظفا لا يعرف كيف سيدفع لهم رواتبهم، لذلك سيضطر الى اقالة بعضهم”.

فهل ستشهد تلك المنطقة تظاهرات للمطالبة بتعديل القانون ؟

النص كما جاء عبر صحيفة “الديلي تلغراف” الاسترالية:

Is this the end of shisha? New smoking laws may snuff out Middle Eastern

water pipes in outdoor cafes

Commercial outdoor dining areas in NSW will be smoke-free under the revised laws, with legislation applying to all ignited smoking products, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes and water pipes

However, Mustafa Krich, owner of Parramatta’s Armani Restaurant in Church St, said the new laws would jeopardise his business and may force his staff out of work

The restaurant has an al fresco tent where diners can eat and smoke water pipes, or argileh, in a Middle Eastern style setting

“We’re very worried, we’ve got 40-50 staff and I don’t know if we’re going to have to close,” Mr Krich said

With cigarettes you can walk away and smoke for a quick two or three minutes, but with argileh you can’t walk away with it in your hand

Mr Krich wants the government to offer exemptions for premises that offer water pipes, also known as hookah and hubbly bubbly, to preserve the ancient cultural practice

Armani was one of several restaurants involved in the Parramatta Business Freedom Association, which took Parramatta Council to the Land and Environment Court in 2012 after it tried to introduce a local ban on smoking in outdoor dining areas

While the court found the council had the right to bring in the ban, the council overturned the decision and waited until the NSW Government’s blanket ban came into effect

The lawyer who represented the restaurateurs, Benjamin Barrak, said there was no question that smoking was bad for health, but it was about freedom of choice

People can choose to do this and let the marketplace dictate how people operate, Mr Barrak said. “Customers can choose to come to this restaurant or go to another restaurant that doesn’t have smoking

We’re not arguing that the law should not be imposed but there should be an exemption for this particular product

A spokeswoman for NSW Health said the government was not looking into special licenses or exemptions for premises that offered water pipes

According to information provided by NSW Health smoke from a water-pipe, like all smoking products, endangers the health of smokers and of others exposed to it and the toxins are not filtered out by the water in the pipe

NSW Health Director of the Centre for Population Health, Dr Jo Mitchell, said there was no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke

“There is strong public support for making outdoor dining areas smoke-free and a number of businesses have already voluntarily banned smoking in their outdoor dining areas, with positive results,” she said