THERE will be specially designated public areas in Bratislava where people won’t be able to drink alcohol as of mid-July, based on a general binding directive recently passed by Bratislava councillors.
The ban, for example, will apply to the Janko Kráľ Orchard public park in Bratislava's borough of Petržalka, the localities of Račianske Mýto and Kuchajda lake, as well as areas outside bus and railway stations. City Hall has drawn up a list of a total of 107 streets, squares, public parks and other localities where it will be forbidden to drink alcohol. Those who are caught will be fined, the TASR newswire reported.
By approving the regulation, the City Hall responded to a prosecutor's ruling that the authority's earlier decision to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol in public spaces across the whole of Bratislava was illegitimate. In order to push for its goal, City Hall had to specify and inform the public which places will be alcohol-free.
The council doesn't know as yet how to notify people of the ban. It plans to have the places marked in the future.
"We'll use pictograms, signs, but we won't use large signboards everywhere," said Bratislava Mayor Milan Ftáčnik, as quoted by TASR.
The localities were selected by individual boroughs in co-operation with the police. In addition, alcohol continues to be banned from the vicinity of schools, cemeteries, medical facilities, churches, children's playgrounds and public transport stops. The principle behind the ban was copied from the Czech capital Prague, where drinking is forbidden in a total of 837 places.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports.
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information
presented in its Flash News postings.
