In 1980 Suva cinemas were told to faced closure unless they were willing to conform with safety regulations laid down by the Suva City Council.
This was reported in The Fiji Times on Friday, September 17, 1976. The SCC had earlier said in 1977 that it intended to see that “all theatres in the city comply with the Cinematograph Regulations”.
This was particularly in respect to measures taken to safeguard the lives of patrons in the event of an earthquake or a fire during film screening.
The council’s main concern was about theatres with collapsible steel gates which were kept locked during screenings to prevent people from getting in without paying.
SCC’s engineer, C.Kangatheran, said that an undertaking by cinema owners that they would cease to lock patrons in during screenings was not good enough.
“If they were installed we would have to keep a constant watch to ensure they were not closed during screenings,” he said.
“They might be kept open for a month and then closed for one day.”
Letters pointing out the regulations were sent to all cinema operators so that they had ample time to make improvements before their licenses were due for renewal, the city engineer said.
The letters also said the council was also considering the question of adequate and proper ventilation in cinemas. Patrons who saw the 3hr 15 minutes Western Hindi movie, Sholay, at the Regal theatre told The Fiji Times there was no interval during the screening.
