The Macau Metro Monitor, January 3, 2013
CASINOS ACCUSED OF CONCENTRATING MOST POPULAR GAMES IN SMOKING ZONES Macau Daily Times
Several casino workers’ associations have accused all of the six gaming concessionaires of taking advantage of the new regulation’s loopholes by assembling gaming tables and popular games together into smoking areas, leaving croupiers and other workers exposed to even higher densities of cigarette smoke. They called for amendments to the regulations as well as stricter enforcement, and some of them even warn of strikes if the situation continues.
All 44 casinos across the 6 concessionaires successfully applied to operate smoking areas, ranging from 34% to 49% of their floor-space. When asked which casinos have the worst conditions, Leong Sun Iok, Vice-President of the Association’s Board of Directors of the Macau Gaming Industry Laborers Association said that in his initial observation of the casinos, the smaller ones seem to have more serious problems because of lower ceilings and less efficient ventilation systems, while those inside the large resorts have better conditions.
According to the Health Bureau, SJM has secured a maximum of an average of 44% of smoking areas across its 19 casinos.
