MoPH resumes raids on shisha cafes in Kabul

KABUL (MoPH), launching a second round of the campaign to collect hookahs from restaurants and hotels in Kabul, on Saturday warned of owners of these places of ‘extremely heavy fines’.

The campaign was conducted in the presence of officials from MoPH, Kabul Municipality, Environment Protection Department and police in Kart-i-Seh neighborhood in the limits of 3rd police district of Kabul city.

Dr. Bashir Ahmad Sarwari, tobacco control department head at MoPH, at the launch of the campaign said the first round of the drive had positive results and therefore, the second phase was launched.

According to him, about 150 hookahs and other related stuff had been seized so far from six hotels in the city. In the previous round, about 600 hookahs had been recovered from 70 hotels and restaurants in the limits of 1st and 12th police districts of the city.

Fawad, a resident of Karte-i-Seh, while welcoming the drive, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “The government should destroy all hookah cafes because it has a fatal impact on health.”

Based on MoPH information, hookah is injurious to health and a third phase of the campaign will be carried out with more seriousness.

Sarwari said the first and second round were aimed at warning hotels and restaurant of fines, but in the third round whoever violated and didn’t pay attention to the warning would have to pay a sum of 250,000 afghanis in fine based on the law.

sns/ma

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