Outdated legislation and weak inter-agency coordination are undermining Fiji’s fight against drugs, Justice permanent secretary Selena Kuruleca has warned.
Speaking during a national dialogue on drugs yesterday, Ms Kuruleca challenged the focus on long-term planning, urging immediate action.
“What must we do now?” she asked.
She also highlighted legislative reform as a key priority under pillar four of the national counter-narcotics strategy, proposing laws mandating minimum rehabilitation standards, a new child drug exposure offence category, clear referral pathways, and mandatory reporting obligations.
Current frameworks, such as the Child Welfare Act referrals, connect agencies in suspected child abuse cases, but similar coordination is lacking across ministries.
“We have some very old laws. Let’s use what’s in the existing laws that can help us.”
Ms Kuruleca stressed early intervention was crucial.
“If the law does not protect the child early, it will punish them later. That is unacceptable.”
She also called for demand reduction, specialised child protection investigation capacity within the Fiji Police Force, and a fully coordinated, trained frontline workforce.
“We can’t have a couple of narcotics bureaus set up and they’re just siloed there, by themselves. We’re setting ourselves up for another loss and waste of resources.”
