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Adomas Bužinskas, deputy director of the Vilnius municipal administration, told BNS that he believed that the Seimas had chosen the wrong way to implement the idea. He said that while the idea “sounds good from the sidelines,” the focus should be on education and prevention rather than bans.
“We want people not to smoke, not drink, not change, it is very welcome here, let’s make people healthier, but that implementation is a bad choice in our opinion,” he said.
“We can pass a law, even if you can not swear, it can be fun, even if you can not harm the climate, but about implementation, control and compliance; we understand that it will be impossible to do that, because it is private property, private space in which no we have the right to interfere at all, ”said A. Bužinskas.
According to him, it is still unknown what procedure to secure the law the government will approve, but it is already clear that it will be difficult or impossible to implement.
“We believe that it is always a better solution to focus on education, prevention and health, rather than outright banning without much idea of how it will be implemented. Since the path I mentioned is more complicated, many people do not want to follow it. we will have another assigned function, which we will not be able to implement, no matter what the Government writes, ”said the deputy director of the Capital Municipality Administration.
The Kaunas City Municipality says it welcomes the law, which “will contribute to a more comfortable life for Kaunas residents in their homes,” but also does not know how it should be implemented and if it will be possible to do so.
“The decision to ban smoking on apartment building balconies is a great idea, which eventually becomes a body with the approval of the Seimas. We are in favor of guaranteeing people’s right to a safer and healthier living environment, ”said Tomas Jarusevičius, the mayor’s advisor, in a reply sent to BNS.
“So far no one is clearly talking about its actual implementation, it is only mentioned that the responsibility here lies with housing administrators, associations or municipalities. In the first place, we would like to receive a description of the procedure, how these procedures should be carried out, to evaluate our possibilities of ensuring it, ”he said.
Ramūnas Matonis, a representative of the Police Department, told BNS that the department does not yet have a clear position on this issue and that a precise description of the procedure to implement the law is also expected.
“We still have to examine it normally, get to know each other, we still don’t have any position,” said R. Matonis.
According to him, the police should be used as a last resort to discipline malicious smokers, the workload here will fall on the municipality.
On Thursday, the Seimas approved amendments to the Tobacco Control Act, which prohibits smoking on the balconies, terraces and loggias of apartment buildings if at least one resident of the house objects to smoking. Smoking is also prohibited in outdoor cafes, common partially owned premises, covered public transport stops, playgrounds, with the exception of smoking areas.
By law, apartment residents must in any case ensure that tobacco smoke does not enter the premises of a neighbor.
The owner of the premises is obliged to provide the official with the data (name, surname and residence address) of the person who smoked on the balcony, terrace, loggia of the apartment or room. If he refused to do so, the owner would face a fine.
President Gitanas Nausėda has not yet made a decision on the ban adopted by the Seimas.
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