The Poodle Bares Its Teeth
Mar 16, 2004
THE NATIONAL Environment Management Authority has clamped down hard on public smoking.<br>Smoking in public places like bars, restaurants and hotels will no longer be allowed except in specially demarcated areas.
THE NATIONAL Environment Management Authority has clamped down hard on public smoking.
Smoking in public places like bars, restaurants and hotels will no longer be allowed except in specially demarcated areas.
No smoking at all will be allowed in offices, factories, schools, prisons, hospitals, shopping malls and sports stadiums.
These are among the most draconian anti-smoking regulations in the world. NEMA’s decision has been widely applauded around the world by the anti-tobacco lobby.
The ban is in some respects good. For instance, smoking is very unhealthy in Public Service Vehicles.
But the ban is an over-reaction to the problem of passive smoking in Uganda. In Europe and America, most bars and restaurants are indoors. Here in Africa they are outdoors in the fresh air where the harmful effect of passive smoking is negligible.
Why has NEMA gone wild on passive smoking?
It is almost as if the NEMA has come out like a fierce dog snarling against passive smoking to compensate for behaving like a timid toothless poodle towards the key environmental issues in Uganda.
NEMA has failed to take an aggressive stance to protect swamps, wetlands and forests from rapacious development.
It has not dynamically tackled issues of discharge into Lake Victoria; industrial pollution; vehicles belching fumes on the roads; forest encroachment; safeguarding urban green areas; and the other environmental crises that we face.
It has not tackled these issues because it has been intimidated by special interest groups. If NEMA wants to demonstrate that it is a genuine guard dog with teeth, it should get as tough on these other issues as it has been on passive smoking.
Ends
Smoking in public places like bars, restaurants and hotels will no longer be allowed except in specially demarcated areas.
No smoking at all will be allowed in offices, factories, schools, prisons, hospitals, shopping malls and sports stadiums.
These are among the most draconian anti-smoking regulations in the world. NEMA’s decision has been widely applauded around the world by the anti-tobacco lobby.
The ban is in some respects good. For instance, smoking is very unhealthy in Public Service Vehicles.
But the ban is an over-reaction to the problem of passive smoking in Uganda. In Europe and America, most bars and restaurants are indoors. Here in Africa they are outdoors in the fresh air where the harmful effect of passive smoking is negligible.
Why has NEMA gone wild on passive smoking?
It is almost as if the NEMA has come out like a fierce dog snarling against passive smoking to compensate for behaving like a timid toothless poodle towards the key environmental issues in Uganda.
NEMA has failed to take an aggressive stance to protect swamps, wetlands and forests from rapacious development.
It has not dynamically tackled issues of discharge into Lake Victoria; industrial pollution; vehicles belching fumes on the roads; forest encroachment; safeguarding urban green areas; and the other environmental crises that we face.
It has not tackled these issues because it has been intimidated by special interest groups. If NEMA wants to demonstrate that it is a genuine guard dog with teeth, it should get as tough on these other issues as it has been on passive smoking.
Ends