The Director of Tobacco and Substance Abuse of the FDA, Dr Olivia Agyekumwaa Boateng, has said that 19 entertainment facilities and restaurants in two regions of Ghana have been fined GH¢475,000 for flouting the law that prohibits smoking at public places.
Dr Agyekumwaa Boateng told The Ghanaian Times in an interview in Accra that the sanctioned facilities included pubs, night clubs, and recreational centres located in Greater Accra and Central Regions and that each of them paid GH¢25,000 fine.
She said that the operation followed a three-day night surveillance by personnel of Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Ghana Police Service, in Tema, Accra in Greater Accra Region, and Kasoa in the Central Region.
According to her, the operation was to ensure public health safety at public places and that the smoke-free law, prohibits smoking at public places such as indoor public spaces, workplaces, public transport and recreational areas, to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke.
She said the team visited 51 facilities, and 19 of them were captured on videos and photograph with clients violating the smoke-free law.
Dr Boateng said that an administrative fine of GH¢25,000 had been imposed on each facility found culpable.
“A person who contravenes any part of the public health Act 2012, part six, is liable to a fine more than 750 penalty units (fine GH¢9000) or a term of imprisonment of not more than three years. In the case of a continuing offence, additional fine of 10 penalty units applies for each day during which the offence continuous. An administrative charge of GH¢25,000 as per fees and charges,” the report quoted Dr. Boatend as saying.
She stressed the need to protect the environment, adding that secondhand smoke poses serious health danger to non smokers and it is classified as a “Toxic Air Contaminant’ so smoke free laws promotes clearer and safer environment.
GIK/APA