Loose gravel no excuse for accident: Qiliho
Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho has warned Police officers in the North that he will not accept the reason of loose gravel as the cause of an accident. During the handing over of nine new leased vehicles at Labasa Police Station ground yesterday Brigadier-General Qiliho informed Northern Divisional Police Commander (DPC) Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shiri Bhawan Singh: “DPC, the ball is in your court now.
“As I stated during one of our Skype briefings, I will not accept the reason of loose gravel as the cause of an accident.
“The officer sitting in the driver’s seat has the understanding and the sound judgement to know that the combination of speeding and loose gravel is an accident waiting to happen.” Brigadier-General Qiliho said he would not hesitate to take these vehicles away if the officers in charge showed no concern with controlling their use.
“I’ve done it with the officers in Koro Island and I won’t hesitate to do the same, if you are not able to show me you can’t maintain and use these vehicles in a suitable manner,” he said. In an interview, Brigadier-General Qiliho informed Fiji Sun that those Police drivers who were involved in an accident would be put in an Internal Tribunal Police process. “All the leased vehicles now have insurance cover and that does not mean they can escape the punishment if found liable,” BrigadierGeneral Qiliho said. “We look into every aspect and put them through disciplinary actions. If the roads are wet Police officers should slow down. There is no need to drive fast unless there is real emergency.”
Labasa Police Station received five vehicles; Seaqaqa Police Station got two, one for Savusavu Police Station and one for Nabowalu Police Station.