POLICE BOOST FOR BITOU ANTI-DRUGS CAMPAIGN

WESTERN Cape police have assigned 10 additional police vehicles and
several more officers to Bitou to help fight the scourge of drug
abuse in the area.

The endorsement came from Western Cape police commissioner Mzwandile
Petros after a plea from members of Bitou's anti-drug campaign, Save
Our Selves (SOS).

Following a presentation, the commissioner acknowledged the need for
more police officials in the area and said he was willing to act quickly.

Petros said extra police personnel would be sent to Bitou to drive
the vehicles. However, there was a shortage of housing in
Plettenberg Bay for these officers, which would take some time to
sort out. He would not give details on time frames or how
many officers would be deployed.

SOS spokesman Christene Mason confirmed the housing delay, saying
the organisation was addressing the issue. She said Petros had
become a patron of the project and told them he hoped it would
develop into a model for other Western Cape towns.

In addition, a police television crew filmed various aspects of the
SOS project and interviewed key role- players for a documentary to
be screened on Police File.

Mason said SOS was busy with a feasibility study for the
establishment of a youth information and counselling centre and a
pilot programme involving family dynamics would be launched within
the next few months.

The police said the SOS initiative, which was launched six months
ago, had shown successes over the last festive season and annual
matric rage festival. There had been fewer than 20 drug and alcohol
arrests in the town, compared with 50 in 2006. Eleven people had
died in car accidents and drownings involving alcohol in 2006, but
last year there had been no deaths. The project was initially set up
in conjunction with the Plettenberg Bay community policing forum in
the hopes of locking the town down against drug and alcohol abuse.

The pro-active project, a first for the Garden Route, focuses on
both preventative and curative measures and involves all
role-players, from the police and church to parents, teachers and children.

In November, British millionaire businessman Richard Branson said he
would be willing to subsidise a rehabilitation centre subject to the
submission of a business plan and projection of cash flow.

Mason said the project had also introduced a 24-hour 082-SOS HELP
(082-767 4357) number for people to report alcohol and drug-related
incidents and abuse, and for people to call if they needed help.
There is also a website, www.sossa.net.