Melco casinos violate smoking policy

Macau’s Health Bureau has inspected VIP gaming areas at Melco Crown’s City of Dreams and Altira properties and found that they were being used as smoking zones without approval.

The inspection followed complaints by some Melco employees, according to local media.

Bureau Director Lei Chin Lon said the relevant areas had been approved as VIP rooms, but not as smoking zones. The room was approved by the city’s gambling regulatory, but the casino operator should have applied separately for a smoking area from the Health Bureau, the reports said.

The bureau told the VIP room to post non-smoking signs.

Macau banned smoking on casino floors from Oct. 6th, though separate VIP rooms are exempt from the ban.

"After a high limit betting zone is approved, it will not become a smoking area automatically,” the reports cited Finance and Economy Secretary Francis Tam as saying. “As for whether smoking is allowed, I think the Health Bureau would make assessments according to the smoking control policy. The existing policy is that smoking is not allowed in all mass gaming areas. Any high limit betting zone set inside mass gaming areas has to obey this policy. Approval of high limit betting zones and for them to eventually become smoking areas is two different matters," he said.

 

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