President Adama Barrow has declared May 1 public holiday in The Gambia to celebrate International Workers’ Day.

A statement from the Office of the President said “President Barrow is aware of the economic impact of COVID 19 on workers and has launched the Government Food Support response to COVID-19 amongst other measures.

“Workers are encouraged to stay home and continue to abide by the preventive health measures to stay safe against the Coronavirus. COVID-19 is real and together we can prevent its spread.”

International Workers’ Day, also known as Workers’ Day or Labour Day is a celebration of labourers and workers around the world on May 1. 

How the Gambia would celebrate the day is not yet mentioned.

About 2 million people of the country, 60 per cent are youth.

But 75 percent of the youth are unemployed.

Despite government pronouncement in growth of economy to 6.5 per cent, Gambians are not feeling the windfall of the growth as poverty still continues to rage in the country.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba