Over the past 12 months, Police have recorded a total of 1,564 drug-related cases, averaging 130 cases per month.
Within this total, 128 cases involve methamphetamine, 1 case involving cocaine, 141 were related to marijuana cultivation and the majority 1,294 cases involved unlawful possession of marijuana.
Revealing these statistics in Parliament, Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, Pio Tikoduadua said this is very unfortunate because it is the reflection of our society and what we do, and this is something that has been ongoing and is a familiar issue.
“We have been talking about this forever which requires a dedicated effort and a national solution but as on the part of Government, we have ratified the single convention on aquatic drugs of 1961 in 1971 and the United Nations Convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in 1993 and this demonstrates our national commitment to dealing with the drug issues under national arrangement or international arrangement and as far as Government is concerned and our perspective because this is not only Police work.”
“We only do a very small part of it in terms of prevention and also prosecution investigation that is part of our work. So we deal with the community in every facet, we talk to faith-based organisations, to the vanua, to communities, to schools which are presently under threat and through the Fiji Police, Narcotics Bureau talking to our community about the effects of drugs and what it does to us, and police through its operations are just trying very hard to control this and we all understand in the past about police going out up-rooting marijuana plants, raiding places where drug has been trafficked.”
“But we are also partnering with major nations of the world to try and look after this, so we have signed an agreement with the United States Narcotic Bureau in terms of the provision of funds, perhaps similar to what the US is giving to the region and we signed this agreement about two months ago here.”
“Fiji will benefit from this in terms of intelligence gathering, collation of intelligence, receiving of funds particularly for prevention but also in other areas where Fiji could benefit.”
“So, this is not something that we are doing alone. We are working with stakeholders and our partners because this is something that affects everyone not only Fiji but Fiji, in our position, is the centre in which people tried to push drugs and this is something that we have been trying to do for a very long time not only this Government over the last nine months, but previously everyone has been trying.”
He said this problem needs a national solution that starts with this Parliament.
“I raised this in 2019 and I will raise it again because this is what we have been raising with Government as the Opposition for a very, very long time.”
“Now we have the political will to do it, we want to do it and we would like to bring the House together for something that should benefit our community.”
“I am not denying this at all because it is the reality on the ground that needs to be done but we need to do it together because not Government alone or the Police can do it, we all have to do it as a nation.”
“We need to look after our children. This has been ongoing for a long, long time.”
“To deny it means the diminishing of our values. This is something that this House must take into cognisance together and work together and get a solution so that is perhaps the challenge that I am putting to the House today whilst we ask ourselves, we should be part of the solution too.”
He said he is going to propose to Cabinet that it moves into Parliament on the next sitting, that a bilateral Committee that deals with the issue of drugs is set up and resourced with the Budget to deal with it because the wellbeing of our children and what they going to become is of critical importance to the nation.
