Police must act swiftly on tips regarding the drug trade and provide a secure line to protect informants, says Ashish Prasad, a Nabua Crime Prevention Committee member and retired teacher.

Submitting on the Counter Narcotics Bill in Suva, Prasad highlighted his committee’s active role, noting they meet regularly and hold monthly sessions with Nabua Police.

Ashish Prasad suggests removing caller ID for tip-offs on alleged drug cases to encourage more people to share information.

“I’m talking with experience, last night, when we tried to call 919, no answer. I called on behalf of a resident, she’s a youth, no answer, so that shouldn’t be on.”

Prasad also recommends that community members and non-governmental organizations be included in the Counter Narcotics Bureau.

“The last one, it was compromised, so we need an independent committee that the NGOs, and so tomorrow they will turn around and say, oh, we are not there. They have to be part of it, because these are the frontline people who have all the information with them.”

He further recommended that the turnaround time for acting on tip-offs be improved.

“Sometimes people here wait for one, two days, three days, four days, months, years, and nothing happens. So there should be a time frame. You know, in these seven minutes, you will act. It has to happen. We can’t say, oh, police case, report. For example, this person reported in Samabula Police Station, and it is still dragging. I told him, report, go to the Police Commissioner and sit and talk to him.”

Police Inspector James Lave says all the view will be taken into consideration when compiling their report.

“You talked about witnesses and the informers. I think this is also one of the issues that we have been discussing, and it’s now been proposed to be part of the law.”

Similar consultations on the Narcotics Bill will be held around the country.

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