Mangal and Akauola on fijivillage Straight Talk With Vijay Narayan

About 200 people are living in the streets of Lautoka with addiction to glue and hard drugs while 12 months ago there were 90 people on the streets.

Adult Teen Challenge Fiji’s Executive Director, Hemraj Mangal highlighted this during fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan when asked why they say the situation has gotten out of control, as the Minister for Home Affairs and the Leader of the Opposition have labelled it as a national security concern.

This organization is running the country's first-ever drug rehabilitation centre that is located in Lololo, Drasa in Lautoka which was established for youths whose lives have been entangled with drugs.

Mangal says if people go in the streets of Lautoka, drugs are in every corner where about 12 months ago 15 milligrams of ice was sold for $50 and this year the price has come down to $15.

He says there is a huge supply of drugs in the market which leads to social and moral decay in the family structure where values are not taught, and people start to experiment with drugs and are later addicted.

The Executive Director says for now, their centre can only accommodate 12 students and they are dedicated to teaching them the basics of life.

According to the data of the Global Teen Challenge Centre which has 140 centres, it takes a person 16 to 20 weeks to lose the desire for drugs.

When asked why the current location was chosen for the rehabilitation centre, Mangal says the 20-acre land was bought from a church member.

He further says the location is peaceful, and students would not run away.

When asked what are they doing, he adds they have an in-house residential program that involves three stages with a program of 12 to 14 months.

The first stage is recovery where a person loses the desire for drugs, the second stage is rehab where the person is taught new values of life and behaviour while the third stage involves empowerment by providing vocational training and restoring them back to their families.

They are waiting for the government to work with them.

Adult Teen Challenge Fiji’s Director, Matai Akauola says it has been more than a year since they visited the Fiji Council of Churches and various ministries, including the Assistant Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Acting Commissioner of Police and Ministry of Youth for assistance regarding their new drug rehabilitation centre in Lololo, Lautoka.

Akauola highlighted this during fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan when asked if they had discussed their future plan with the government and other stakeholders.

He says they had reached out to the organizations in March last year where they were informed that they will be contacted.

The Director says there are many fake people around, and they will tell you something but their intentions are unknown. Akauola says the Fiji Council of Churches is also saying that they will get a program from South Africa but they have articulated to them that they have a program that has assisted people.

He says fijivillage Straight Talk is a show where they can call a spade a spade, and their program has helped people to become better individuals.

The Director further says they thought that the Fiji Council of Churches was a one-stop shop but they have realised that they might just go to every church.

He adds that they want to partner with the Ministry of Health so that they have experts and their knowledge in addressing this issue.

When asked what if they don’t see the program fit, Executive Director Hemraj Mangal says their program has existed around the world for 66 years and they have a success rate of 76 percent.

Mangal says this means people who have participated in the program do not return to their former lives after graduation.

He says he has been to many Adult Teen Challenge centres where they have a waiting list as people want to join because lives have changed and reformed and he is encouraging people to join their program.

The Executive Director says they have plans to make a men's centre along with a women's and children's centre.

They want to make an 80-bed centre for both men and women and have wanted to have facilities like a chapel, classroom, media and music room and library.

He says they are raising their own funds.

When asked about the medical aspect as the Ministry of Health is planning to set up a drug rehabilitation centre in Fiji, Akauola says they need to partner with them as they need experts to assist them and they will reach out to them.

People who are knocking off from work and going directly to the yaqona session is a concern because it is breaking families, the government has to note this because if families are breaking – it’s the breakdown of the nation as well.

National Director for Marriage Ministries and Adult Teen Challenge Fiji Director Matai Akauola highlighted this during fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan when asked about the status of marriages in Fiji.

He says previously there were small groups but there are several groups drinking yaqona and it's even going down to the schools as well where they raise funds in kava barrels.

Executive Director Hemraj Mangal says sometimes time is invested in the wrong place which leads to no quality time spent by parents with their children and vice versa.

Mangal says they had gone to a restaurant where a couple were only looking at their social media not interacting with each other and we need to bring back the quality family time in our communities.

When asked about the social and moral decay connected to a lot of children on the streets with addiction to drugs, Akauola says it’s like a pandemic, and it’s now visible compared to before.

He further says children are on the streets roaming around at 1am.

He says this is not only the government or the church's problem and the community needs to come up with a strategy to solve this issue.

Concerns are being raised as people are openly injecting drugs in the heart of Suva City around the building near the Parliament Complex while others also gather there to receive their shots.

Adult Teen Challenge Fiji’s Director, Matai Akauola highlighted this during fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan when asked about the information and updates they are receiving from the ground.

He says this issue has gone out of control and raises the issue on what are the churches actively doing to address this.

Akauola says this was happening when they were returning from a prayer session at about midnight on Sunday, when a man was injecting drugs and a police officer who was part of Akauola's group had confronted the man and took the needle away.

He says it seems some churches are just focusing on building their kingdoms.

He says 30 years ago when people were farming yaqona some were peddling drugs and it was going right into the embassies, so drugs are not only affecting those at the lower end of the family structure but also people in the offices.

Akauola says one way or the other, people are involved in drugs and when society doesn't deal with it, it becomes a problem for us because we allow it to happen.

The organization is running the country's first-ever drug rehabilitation centre that is located in Lololo, Drasa in Lautoka which was established for youths whose lives have been entangled with drugs.

He is calling on the Fiji Police Force on what is being done and to address the issue where drugs are being injected and sold right in the public eye.

The concerning trend of the sharing of needles by hard drug users, where people are injecting the drug and then using the same syringe to draw out the blood of that person, and then putting it into another person’s body continues.

While responding to our questions on how is the police monitoring this situation, the Assistant Commissioner of Police Operations, Livai Driu says they need evidence regarding this matter.

He says Police are deployed throughout the City for operations.