People will still be allowed to smoke in Slovak restaurants, cafes and bars under certain conditions, as parliament on June 18 decided to halt debate on an amendment to the Non-Smokers Protection Act submitted by Tatiana Rosová, Villiam Novotný and Peter Markovič, all from the SDKÚ party, the TASR newswire reported.
The motion to end debate was proposed by Anton Bobrík from Smer who said the proposal lacks a clause concerning the effect of the ban on public finances. The amendment was designed to introduce a total ban on smoking in facilities that prepare and serve food.
Rosová failed to push this proposal through in February, however, when the Non-Smokers Protection Act itself was debated in Parliament. According to the bill actually approved, restaurants, bars and cafes serving food are obliged to build a solid wall dividing smokers from non-smokers by September 2009.
The owners of facilities that serve only drinks can choose whether to be smoking or non-smoking. Rosová told TASR that most Slovaks, including owners of facilities, support her measure. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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