Singapore bans smoking in reservoirs, parks

Singapore will ban smoking in reservoirs and parks from June 1, Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor told Parliament on Tuesday.

Singapore currently bans smoking in all indoor areas and most of the common areas of residential and public buildings, including public museums and amusement centers, common corridors, staircases, covered walkways and linkways, all pedestrian overhead bridges, within 5 meters of bus shelters and hospital outdoor compounds.

Starting from June, new premises will include 17 reservoirs, parks in public housing estates and under the purview of Jurong Town Corporation, Singapore's principal developer and manager of industrial estates and their related facilities, as well as neighborhood parks under National Parks within private housing estates, local media quoted Khor as saying.

However, the owners of these premises will have the option to set up designated smoking points and will be responsible for their maintenance, said the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR).

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said this is in line with the government's ultimate goal of prohibiting smoking in all public areas.

"To protect non-smokers, we have progressively prohibited smoking in public places since the 1970s. The smoking prohibition was last extended in 2013, and today there are more than 32,000 premises and locations where smoking is prohibited," said Khor.

For the first three months of implementation, a warning will be given to those who are caught smoking in the newly prohibited places. However, repeated offenders can result in a fine of up to 2,000 Singapore dollars (1,481 U.S. dollars). Enditem