Shisha to be banned in Dubai residential areas

The Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) has revealed it is working alongside the Municipality to ban to sale of shisha in cafes in residential areas.

Cafes will be forced to stop offering the service, or close. The DED wants to ensure no shisha will be served in residential areas or near schools and mosques.

“The new rules will be issued next month before they are enforced in the following months…we are taking these measures after we received many complaints from people in residential areas,” said Mohammed Al Saadi, director of the trade registration section at DED.

He added: “We have conducted a study showing the harmful effects of shisha cafes on residents…it showed there is a need to restructure licences for those cafes in residential areas and near mosques and schools…we will of course take into consideration the interests of investors and owners of those cafes but they have to abide by new rules relating to the environment and public health."

Cafes intending to serve shisha will then need to seek a licence from the DED and the Municipality