On Thursday, August 8, a little after 8pm, two young men, both slightly built, stood at the junction of Velau Drive and Tivi Place in Kinoya, Nasinu.
They watched as a taxi pulled over and offloaded two passengers, both women!
As the women unloaded their stuff from the cab, and one turned to pay the driver, one of the young men crossed the road, and walked purposefully to the driver’s window, looked in, then reached inside the cab, grabbed the driver’s mobile phone, and ran down the street!
A vehicle, had at the time, pulled up behind the taxi, with the passengers all watching in stunned silence at the turn of events.
Meanwhile, as the two women shouted to the second young man across the street, asking him about the identity of the thief, he dismissed them, and walked in the direction of the thief.
In almost the blink of an eye, a cabbie lost his phone, and couldn’t do anything about it.
The two women could only watch in horror!
As we look up to the police force to be more proactive and to be visible around our urban centres, we also look up to parents and guardians to be especially vigilant and to provide guidance for their young charges.
The story here is one of frustration.
The cab driver, who certainly wasn’t young any more, had a terrible evening.
He did not deserve that!
As much as they wanted to assist him, the women couldn’t do much either!
In the vehicle behind the cab, the female driver and her two children couldn’t do much either!
The youngster was daring!
He was bold!
And he had no care in the world, it seemed.
This distressing episode, not the first time along these streets, is unfortunate when one considers the fact that a police post is barely a hundred metres away!
We see this as an urgent call for greater community engagement in our urban centres around the country, with support from the police force!
Now in the face of that event, we learn that children below 10 years old are grappling with the consequences of drug use and HIV.
This was one of the key messages delivered by stakeholders who gathered for the Fiji Red Cross Society’s inaugural youth talanoa at the Novotel Suva on Monday.
Fiji, the society stated, is grappling with a significant rise in HIV prevalence and drug use among our youth, with alarming statistics showing an increase in cases.
“In recent years, the number of drug-related offences among young people has surged, and HIV cases among Fijian youth have more than doubled, exacerbated by a lack of awareness, stigma, and inadequate support structures.”
Sceptics will suggest a connection between such daring acts and drug addiction.
We say there has to be a concerted effort to understand this better, and work on uniting communities to fight together against crime.
People need a safe environment.
They want to live in peace.
They want to be part of a healthy community where they can enjoy and live life to the brim!
