Village heads from across Kombo South District in West Coast Region last Friday concluded a daylong workshop on public smoking at the Gunjur Day Care Centre.
The information-sharing seminar was organised by the district authorities for alkalos (the village heads).
Speaking at the closing ceremony, the head chief of Kombo South District, Alhagie Sheriff Ajay Janneh, said the workshop was organised to sensitise the alkalos about the harmfulness of the public smoking.
"As you may know, smoking kills a lot of people in the world every year," he said. "Public smoking is a great concern for the Government of The Gambia; that is why the National Assembly has passed a law to ban it."
He urged the participants to make best use of the knowledge gained from the workshop as well as to share the information to people in their communities.
For his part, Famara Bojang, chairman of Gunjur Village Development Committee, applauded the district authority of Kombo South for organising the workshop.
"The workshop will go a long way in discouraging smoking in public places," he said.
