Bula
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku has hit back at Attorney-General Graham Leung and Fiji Law Society president Wylie Clarke, while insisting that he will step down from his role as ordered by the Supreme Court last week. “Both Mr Leung and Mr Clarke are not the Judicial Service Commission,” said Mr Rabuku. “Their calling for my resignation publicly is an attempt to publicly usurp the JSC’s role in this saga.” He said whether he agreed or disagreed with the Supreme Court ruling was irrelevant, however, he would adhere to the Court’s opinion. That’s the lead on Page 1 of The Fiji Times for Friday, July 5.
In the second report, two legislations will be pushed through Parliament next week that will allow Members of Parliament (MP’s) to bring in a private vehicle and personal imports into the country without paying any taxes. The Value Added Tax (Budget Amendment) Bill 2024 and the Customs Tariff (Budget Amendment) Bill 2024 will give effect to this freebie – previously only the President was allowed to bring tax free personal imports into the country.
And in Business, ANZ Bank said Government is kicking the can of budget repair down the road, deferring much needed work on the cost of running its operations. In a report released this week, ANZ economists Dr Kishti Sen and Tom Kenny believe that tackling operating expenditure can help it improve its budget balance, reduce its deficit faster and bring its debt-to-GDP level down much quicker than it planned in its proposed 2024-2025 national budget.
Synopsis
Fiji Police Force Sexual Offences and Child Abuse officer, Inspector Unaisi Mateiwai, made a powerful statement the other day on the role of parents and guardians.
She spoke about accountability and the need to be aware of what some of our children are doing and raised concerns about breaches of the law.
Parents, she said, can be be held accountable for children caught committing serious crimes such as sexual assault and rape.
Speaking at a recent Christian rally, Inspector Mateiwai said the law would not hold back from taking parents and guardians to task if there was a need.
Children, she believes, easily access illicit content on social media because parents were not monitoring them.
Raising a case to illustrate her point, she said a rape involving a five-year-old and a three-month-old girl could have been avoided if their parents were aware of what was happening around them.
The rape, she said, “happened because of what they were watching”.
Mobile phones and similar electronic devices, she said, were brainwashing our children.
“If the child is below 18 and has access to a mobile phone or has a social media account, you must know their password,” she stressed. “You must monitor. You must guide.”
When a child broke the law, she said, the parents could be held accountable.
“When they are found or caught, they are transferred to us at the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Unit. If we see that the reason the child breaking that law was because their parents were not aware of what they (children) were doing then we can arrest the parent.”
Now that is a powerful statement!
It touches the very heart of parental supervision and must inch out vigilance.
The challenge we have is to ensure that our young charges are safe, and in a safe environment. We have a duty to empower them, to be aware of what is happening around them, and to be confident enough to make well informed decisions as they grow into young adults.
That starts by us, parents and guardians taking the initiative to be engaged in their upbringing, and to be there for them.
It means paying attention as they grow, and being a part of their development on the homefront and in school.
We agree with IP Mateiwai. Her message should serve as a reminder of the need for shared responsibility. We must safeguard the welfare and safety of our children and be a catalyst for change. That change must first come from within us!
