25 youths trained on disaster prevention

Twenty-five youths from the Sanyang Tesito Association last week received two-day training on disaster prevention and first-aid management.

The theme of the training was ‘youth participation on disaster prevention’. The training, which attracted young boys and girls, was supported by west coast regional disaster office.

In his welcome remarks, Jabero Jabang, alkalo of Sanyang village, thanked the youth of the association for coming up with such a good initiative.

He urged the participants to take the training seriously and to be mindful of disasters hence its effects could be devastating.

He also urged the youth to make the best use of the knowledge gained during the two-day training.

Dembo Kambi, West Coast Region youth chairperson, also expressed delight about the training, saying: “Disasters do cause serious disruption of functioning of a community or society involving widespread human material, economic or environmental losses.

“The impact exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.”

He stressed that in the past years The Gambia has experienced a lot of disasters some of which are natural and some manmade.Young people are very crucial to disaster management and its related issues, he said, adding that to reduce the risk of disaster, they need to be equipped with relevant information on disaster management as well as economically and environmentally.

For his part, Sheriff K. Bojang, chairman of Sanyang Youth Tesito Association, emphasised the importance of the training,

The training was held to enhance youth skills on disaster prevention and first-aid management, he said.

Serign Modou Joof, West Coast Region Disaster Coordinator, thanked the youth for their participation in the training.

According to Joof, the efforts made in the country have shown the political will of the government to mitigate disasters.

Other speakers included Nuha Ceesay, PRO of the association, who also expressed appreciation and satisfaction over the turnout and participation of the youth.