DRUG PROBLEM

THE cultivation of marijuana on a massive scale is a serious problem
in Fiji.

Since the launch of a police operation to fight against drugs,
hundreds of farms have been raided, thousands of plants have been
uprooted but only a handful of people have been arrested.

Majority of the real planners are still roaming free and most of them
are now probably organising and planning the next marijuana farm.

People cultivate marijuana with one motive in mind -- to make quick
cash, and oodles of it. As this newspaper has shown in the past, some
villagers grow and sell marijuana to improve their standards of living.

With proceeds from drug sales, these villagers and rural dwellers have
been able to build better homes, buy generators and educate their
children. This illegal activity, they say, helps them survive because
the Government has failed them in their development policies.

But this is just another excuse. Other villagers and rural dwellers
have been able to survive on dalo farming, yaqona, sugar cane and
vegetable farming. With prudent management, hard work and savings,
these farmers have been able to survive, educate their children and
build a future.

Villagers are now being educated and have seen first-hand the effects
of drug abuse on their young people. Rural communities are now joining
forces with the police to drive out cultivators and law breakers.

Their community police committees are bearing fruit. The net is now
closing in on marijuana cultivators. Drug trading routes are being
closely watched by police officers and village people and other rural
dwellers are no longer turning a blind eye to illegal activities in
their backyard.

But perhaps the problem can be better dealt with through a fair system
of distribution of development, wealth and investment.

The Government's policy toward making people more self-reliant through
income generating projects can be successful if it secures a market
for them and allows them to borrow a small amount of capital to get
their projects off the ground.

It also needs to monitor assistance programmes to ensure that the
corruption that surfaced in the farming assistance scheme never
happens again. Basic utilities like proper schools, roads, water and
electricity should not be facilities that they have to ask for.

By reducing wastage in the civil service, cutting down on corruption,
better allocation of resources and political will power, rural
dwellers should be able to enjoy the same amenities available in urban
centres around the country.

And in the process, the Government could cut down on drug cultivation
and urban drift.