Bula
Three stories make the front page of The Fiji Times for Tuesday, February 4.
“IF an old democracy faces challenges with the rule of law, how much more challenging is it for a young democracy?” This was the question posed by Attorney-General Graham Leung while commenting on the recent political developments in the country. “If you’ve been following the papers in the last few weeks, it seems we are taking some steps backward,” he said.
POLICE Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu is committed to getting the Fiji Police Force in order and has advised officers in the force to “come clean, stay clean and go out clean”.
Supermarket chain RB Patel Group Limited posted a $93million turnover for the half-year ending December 31, 2024 – an increase of just over 3.4 per cent over the $90m recorded in the previous year. Full report on Page 14
Synopsis
It’s good to know that Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu has identified two key areas of focus that need urgent attention within the Fiji Police Force.
He is now focused on improving service delivery to the people and tackling issues within the force.
It makes sense! They are two very important issues that need attention.
He needs to address concerns about service delivery and talk about issues negatively impacting the force.
So that would include perception, and how people look at service delivery. It will cover many challenges now faced by the force, and they range from attending to reports, efficiency, and timeliness. It involves attention to detail and how officers respond to complaints. It will cover action taken, and the approach adopted by officers.
Then there are the issues of integrity and commitment to the values of police work.
Staring at a brickwall right now, with allegations of abuse of power, and corruption, there are certainly many fronts to consider and address.
The war against drugs, and lucrative financial returns for those involved means extra attention must be placed on how our men and women in blue respond to reports and incidents connected to the sale of illicit drugs like methamphetamine.
Commissioner Tudravu knows he has to start somewhere.
“I need to see that our house is in order,” he said.
So he wants a “clean slate”.
He’s made that clear to his senior officers.
Work, he said, would start from within because he firmly believes if everything is in order in the force, this would translate to better service delivery, to the community.
He’s already talking about that connection to the community, and that’s important.
In the event any police officer is accused of being involved in illicit activity, there would be an investigation.
“We need to be fair to all, everybody. I need to be fair to the police officers themselves. We need reports. We need evidence. If our police officers are implicated, we’ll investigate. But I need people not to speculate on things.”
The public, he believes, should be fair to those implicated.
“Let them go through the system. I’m here to support the system. I’ve been investigated in my life, in my journey, I went into those systems. I came out.
“I’ve told officers, if there’s something wrong, (if) you committed something, face the consequence, that’s it!
Again, it makes sense! People are innocent until proven guilty!
“So, everybody will be investigated. I urge members of the public, please allow the system, allow the process to continue. Do not judge people before they complete the process.”
Now that’s a powerful statement coming from the commissioner.
The onus is on us as citizens to be aware of our rights as well.
We embrace the direction taken by the commissioner. He will need our support to make things happen in the force.
And mind you, that can’t happen overnight.
We’ve had far too many commissioners who weren’t true police officers over the years. They never went through the ranks. We are left to wonder why we even did that in the first place? The challenges are many today.
Moving forward, we need a force that is united, professional, accountable, and is able to serve and protect the people of Fiji.
