Hong Kong Tobacco Control Office only have 99 officers. Do you think it is enough or not?
Macau has a population of 544,000 (source: Macau News) compared to Hong Kong’s 7 million.
Their new Tobacco Control Office will have 70 officers or one per 7,771 Macau inhabitants.
Hong Kong TCO has I believe only 99 officers to cover a population of 7 million which is 13 times more
than Macau and this allocates one HKG TCO officer per 70,707 Hong Kong inhabitants or ten times more persons per TCO officer than Macau. In addition Hong Kong has far more tourists per year than Macau.
It is high time the HKG Government expanded the TCO by at least 10 times manpower-wise to effectively police the current laws and allow them to be expanded. Meanwhile the law must be amended to put the onus on landlords and managers of licensed premises to prevent smoking within , at entrances to and patio areas of the premises as well as vehicles with children on board and the Hong Kong airport bus terminus.
http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/macau/7895-Bill-tobacco-for-public-consultation.html
“Last week, while the bill was unanimously approved in principle, lawmakers had already voiced many doubts regarding the law’s enforcement. At that time, the director of the Health Bureau, Lei Chin Ion, said a new department would be created to include 70 workers, to take care of the new duties.”
Source: Clear The Air and Macau Daily Times