The North London Muslim Community Centre has attached several signs to its gates asking people to stop spitting the tobacco and betel leaf-based mixture called ’paan’ within its perimeter.
Mohammed Gajia, the General Secretary of the centre, said that the signs were accompanied by regular announcements during prayer times. He added that the issue is most prevalent during the month of Ramadan.
“The problem is people gather and stand around in the forecourt chewing and they just spit it wherever they’re standing,” he said.
Paan, which is popular amongst people of South Asian heritage, dries to leave a red blood-like stain which can be difficult to remove. However Mr Gajia also said that there had been a decrease in the number of stains appearing on the forecourt.
“We have managed to remove the stains and have not had many problems recently although there is the odd occasion when it still happens,” he said.
In 2010 Brent Council in North West London implemented fines of £80 for those found spitting paan, as it was costing the local authority £20,000 a year to clean up the mess. Mr Gajia said the centre did not have a similar plan to implement fines although it knew of the identities of some of those spitting. “Many of them are elderly, what can you do? Some cooperate, some don’t. You can’t control them.”
Although the North London Muslim Community Centre has a large South Asian population that uses its facilities, the surrounding area does not have any business outlet that sells Paan.
This is a good thing according to Mr Gajia, who said: “Thank God we don’t have any paan shops here!”
