by NEVILLE CLARKE

BY OCTOBER, anti-smoking legislation should be brought before the House of Assembly for discussion.

Minister of Health Jerome Walcott made this disclosure last Thursday while speaking to members of the Press at Savannah Hotel, where the first meeting of the CARICOM/CWC 2007 Health Sector Sub-Committee was held.

"Anti-smoking legislation is before Chief Parliamentary Counsel Shirley Belle for fine tuning and this has to do with smoking in public places. Anti-smoking legislation has been talked about for some time and we have had discussions with the various stakeowners. The legislation is being finalised now," Walcott said.

The minister of health told the media that he hoped to have the legislation laid in Parliament in October when the chamber reconvened after the summer recess.

He pointed out that the legislation would speak to the matter of smoking in public places.

Walcott recalled that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had stipulated that there would be no smoking at stadia except in designated areas.

However, he pointed out that in countries where anti-smoking legislation was in place, ICC regulations would be superseded by the country's legislation.

The minister of health said: "So if a country has in place no smoking legislation in public places, the venue country can determine that the stadia would be no-smoking."

He disclosed that St Lucia was also moving in the direction where smoking in public places would be prohibited.

Meanwhile, Grenada's Minister of Health, Senator Ann David-Antoine, told the media that her country had plans to introduce anti-smoking legislation.

However, she said the Keith Mitchell administration had not reached the stage where the legislation was ready for discussion in parliament.

"Grenada is one of the countries that has responded to the request to address the issue of smoking in public places. We are very concerned about the public health issue as it relates to smoking in public. There is also the issue of safety," she said.

Antoine pointed out that even though many Grenadians were non-smokers, the influx of visitors who smoked during Cricket World Cup 2007 could create a health problem.