“Its a matter of urgency to ensure smoke free pouroshova for protecting our future generation to come from the adverse effect of tobacco use. And there is no other way but starting an effective movement against smoking and tobacco use to protect the community from the harm of second-hand smoke. I will do everything to free my area from the harmful effect of second hand smoke and so I declare Noakhali Pouroshova as smoke free.” said Mr. Harunur Rashid Azad, Mayor of Noakhali Pouroshova while he was speaking in the leadership training on 14th December 2011 at the conference hall in Noakhali pouroshova.
The training was inaugurated by the Mayor and it was addressed by the Panel Mayor of the Pouroshova Mr Md. Hossain, Chief Secretary of the Pouroshova Mr. Amirul Islam Harun, Professor Md. Abdul Momin and it was participated by representatives of different government bodies, several councilors, journalists, lawyers , religious leaders, business leaders of Noakhali. The speakers emphasized on the responsibilities of the local government authorities, media , civil society groups and NGOs. The training was arranged with the support of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids(CTFK) and Bloomberg Initiatives (BI), in cooperation with a local organisation named ABSA.
