Methamphetamine is as easily accessible as lollipops in Fiji because Government lacks the political will to tackle the issue head-on, claims National Federation Party (NFP) president Pio Tikoduadua.
He said this in a statement issued yesterday where he referred to an online news article posted on September 15 by Vice World News titled “Meth is Turning Fiji from a Tropical Paradise into a Narco’s Playground”.
In the article, the author claimed he was able to purchase meth in an informal settlement located five minutes from the Suva City for $US20 ($F45.42), $US45 ($F102.20) or a gram for $US400 ($F908.47).
The author also claimed drug-associated domestic violence in Fiji had increased.
Mr Tikoduadua claimed the FijiFirst Government and police were paying lipservice to the fight against the importation and manufacture of methamphetamine.
He said both Government and police were only focusing on raiding farms in rural areas and maritime areas like Kadavu to uproot and seize marijuana and charge farmers instead of addressing the meth issue.
The NFP president claimed the report “clearly pointed out” that the use of hard drugs has spiralled out of control and was “a far bigger disaster than climate change that this Government keeps preaching about both here and abroad”.
“FijiFirst had the perfect opportunity to embrace a collective approach on August 9, 2019 if it had accepted my motion in Parliament for the establishment of a special parliamentary committee to holistically look into the multifaceted risks of the hard drug situation in Fiji.
“Not surprisingly, the motion was trashed by FijiFirst Government with the Defence Minister bragging they had the problem under control”.
Questions sent to Defence Minister Inia Seruiratu and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum on the comments made by Mr Tikoduadua remained unanswered when this edition went to press.
