Levuka affray

Satish Nakched, Suva

I believe that Police Officers in Levuka could be one of the friendliest in the country. They have mingled and blended in very well with the local community. Everybody greets them by the first name in the sleepy municipality where nothing much which could be considered exciting occurs.

The imperturbable and the placid behaviour of the Police Officers I believe is a huge disadvantage in that people do not take them seriously and they may encounter problems when giving out instructions. This was very evident when visiting the historical town recently.

I was in town in December last year on a Saturday and found a drunk who was staggering, half dressed and annoying the people who were out shopping. I had to cross over to the seaward side to avoid this hazard and the people just ignored him.

He was there in town almost the whole day and surprisingly he was there again on Sunday morning. I inquired from the people as to who that guy was and I was told that he is a foreman of a construction company which is in Levuka to repair the schools. This inebriated person roamed the entire town that created fear and trepidation to the visitors who saw him for the first time. It was quite disturbing that the mischievous drunk was not picked up by the law enforcement officers.

Again this year when attending the 140th year celebration of Levuka Public School I saw a group of dipsomaniacs at about 5pm on a Saturday drinking outside a supermarket at the Post Office end. The boisterous mob was heavily intoxicated and suddenly two of them started a fist fight.

The fight on the street temporarily stopped the traffic and the brawl ended about fifteen minutes later as they became exhausted to carry on.

Both fell numerous times and were bleeding. What startled me was that the residents found it entertaining as they have become accustomed to such events.

The Police Officers need to be polite, firm and quick in response should there be a breach of the law.

There must be a line drawn and their authority established early and respect must be maintained.

I believe that problems of drunks are not new to the island and can recall that some time back apart from attacking the Police Officers their vehicle was also pushed into the sea.

I believe that the senior seasoned Police Officers like the ACP Rusiate Tudravu and SSP Biu Matavou may remember that the new recruits of yester years were to sign a declaration confirming that their posting to a particular location was temporary and subject to a rotation after the first reenlistment.

The other one was that you cannot be transferred to your home district. These mechanisms and directives were merely implemented so that everyone will be treated fairly without favourism.

I believe that corrective actions are currently been taken and the drunk and disorderly offences will be addressed as we are almost into the festive season.