Bula
Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad and Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry traded verbal blows yesterday as Mr Chaudhry demanded that Professor Prasad account for $500,000 in funds for last year’s Girmit celebrations.
Prof Prasad blasted Mr Chaudhry, saying he was lying about the Girmit funding and that the funding had been approved by Cabinet and other Government Ministries. Mr Chaudhry, meanwhile, called on Professor Prasad to release the accounts and “let the people decide”.
That’s the big one on the front page of The Fiji Times for Friday, August 2.
In the other story on Page 1, the use of public funds will be strictly monitored by Government. Appearing on The Lens@177, Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad highlighted Gvernment’s plans for the new financial year and how taxpayers money will be utilised over the next 12 months.
Catch Prof Prasad’s full interview on The Fiji Times Facebook page and Youtube channel at 7pm tonight.
Synopsis
It is frightening that children as young as 10 years old have been found to be engaging in harmful substance abuse in Lautoka.
Fiji Council of Social Services executive director Vani Catanasiga highlighted this during a workshop on Trafficking in Persons facilitated by the Pacific Islands News Association and The Asia Foundation this week in Suva.
Many children, she said, were engaging in substance abuse in the Sugar City and they were “at high risk of being involved in trafficking and sometimes will be caught in a precarious cycle of exploitation and abuse.”
It’s a serious concern and must be addressed.
There will be many questions raised about how this has been allowed to happen in the first place.
Then there is the issue of response, and how we address these challenges before us.
There is a need to empower children at a very young age now because of this revelation.
That’s the age when children are vulnerable!
They feed off the actions of others and many will give in to peer pressure!
We ask, where are their parents and guardians?
Where are those who are supposed to be responsible for them?
What has been done to rope them in, and get the ball rolling in addressing this concern?
What are we doing about the adults? Ms Catanasiga said syringes believed to be used for drugs are found on the streets of Lautoka almost every morning.
That is another serious concern!
“We had an Australian volunteer who took photos of syringes on her way to work from her flat to our office!” she said.
She also spoke about the cultivation of marijuana, which she insisted was prevalent in farming communities and involved high school dropouts.
She connected the high rate of dropouts to youths being pushed to farming.
“Some youths graduate from drug use to drug trafficking in that sense because they’re tilling the land,” she said.
What we have here is a situation that demands urgent action.
That must include community-based programs that educate and support children, initiatives that engage families, and policies that address socio economic factors that contribute to the challenges we are facing now. We need to act fast and decisively.
The Government needs to be engaged, and we need civil society groups taking an active role as well.
What has been raised here should serve as a reminder for us about the importance of comprehensive action.
We need to create awareness about the dangers of drug abuse and implement strategies that will empower our children, address contributing factors, and change mindsets!
Ms Catanasiga has raised an issue that demands action!
