The government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is considering amending the law to make breaches of the smoking ban fixed-penalty offenses to reduce the cost of prosecution, Deputy Director of Health Dr. Leung Ting-hung said Saturday.

Speaking on a radio talks shows here Saturday, Dr. Leung said the administration will consult the public and design a computer system to meet the change.

Leung expected the process would take about 18 months.

Beginning Jan. 1, Hong Kong started to implement ordinance extending the smoke ban areas to parks, malls, pubs and other vast majority of indoor places after months of preparation and publicity.

With warning boards and notices clearly in sight and public health inspectors touring indoor bars and eating rooms, the Amendments of the Ordinance extended the smoking ban to a vast majority of indoor areas and empowered the tobacco control inspectors of the Tobacco Control Office under the Department of Health to take enforcement actions.

A total of about 120 complaints of the breaches of the smoke- free ordinance had been received by the Tobacco Control Office in the metropolis as the law-enforcement process was generally smooth, Dr. Leung said.

He said as the extended smoking ban had come into effect only in the last few days the public needs time to adjust to the new requirements.

Although no summonses have been issued since the ban began, the office will continue its enforcement in accordance with the new ordinance, he said.

He added the office has issued 20 prosecutions after it was empowered to carry out the prosecutions in October last year.

Extended no-smoking areas in Hong Kong cover indoor areas of public markets, hawker bazaars, cooked-food hawker bazaars, refuse collection points, and public toilets under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department as well as beaches, swimming pools, stadiums, sports grounds, sports centers, museums, libraries, civic centers, and most public pleasure grounds under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

According to the new ordinance, anyone who has committed a smoking offense is subject to a maximum penalty of 5,000 HK dollars (about 641 U.S. dollars).

Under the new ordinance, smoking at 1,200 public pleasure grounds, including all civic centers, museums and libraries, will be prohibited from Jan. 1, while smoking areas occupying no more than 1 percent of the venue size have been specified in 195 venues and smoking will be allowed in about 60 small-scale venues, according to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Source: Xinhua