St. Vincent and the Grenadines is drafting legislation to implement a NO SMOKING POLICY IN PUBLIC places which is long overdue. This should have been in place for many years when smoking was allowed in the Registry in public view. Many customers were subjected to the second-hand smoke and it was like no one’s business. Ministers of Government smoked in their offices and it was accepted at that time as lawful. Some preachers smoke outside the church and even in the church under the guise that they are serving God.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is coming in line with other countries that signed the WTO convention in 2010. However, the hypocrisy of some will want others to believe that the Government is making life difficult for the citizens. I hope that there is some clarification as to what “Public” means and to what extent the word “Public” is extended.

I work in a “NO SMOKING” facility and the entire premises should be but workers do smoke on the premises which is a violation of the said policy. Passing the law is good, but who will police the law? I am waiting to see what penalties and fines are written in the law and whether it is a money earner for the Treasury. As it stands in SVG the citizens cannot take another tax, because they are overburden already.

I will write more about the SMOKING BAN in another article.

Sir Godfrey Gregg