Short on wheels

SUVA – Fiji’s Police Commissioner says his force is struggling with a lack of resources, particularly the availability of vehicles.

Groenwald pointed to the issue when questioned on the effi ciency of the Fiji force’s investigative unit. Mr Groenwald said a lack of resources is not helping. “Resources are always a challenge to any police organisation.

Unfortunately, yes, we have a shortage of police vehicles at this stage and it is in effect an obstacle in the successful investigation of crime.”

When asked just how many vehicles were available for police work he said: “I do not have the fi gures with me at this stage but my latest estimate is that we have about 45 per cent of our running fleet available at this stage. It is a process. Some of them have been taken out of service and we are waiting for replacement. The replacement is a long process and unfortunately some of our vehicles have fairly high kilometres on.”

When asked how the shortage of vehicles was affecting investigations, he said: “Any shortage of resources, whether it is mobile, vehicle shortage or manpower, is an obstacle in any police organisation. Any shortage of any resources is an obstacle in the success rate of your policing as a whole, not only your investigative issues.

“Hopefully it’s an interim process. The vehicles have been ordered. It is a process that goes through the government structures and hopefully this shortage will be addressed in the near future.