Tudravu says 81 vehicles yet to be given but Prof. Prasad says budget promises met

Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu says they have 81 vehicles yet to be given to them according to their lease arrangement, however, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says whatever was agreed during the budget in terms of vehicles has been provided to the Police Force.

Tudravu highlighted this during a press conference while responding to concerns on the lack of vehicles where he says this is not an excuse for a police officer not to attend to reports as there are other means they can use.

He says they cannot provide all vehicles to all police stations as there is a baseline given by the government in terms of the vehicles that are to be allocated to the Fiji Police Force.

Tudravu says giving the excuse of lack of transport is not an excuse itself.

He says a police officer should have the initiative to attend to reports and use other means.

When asked what was the reason for the delay in receiving the 81 vehicles, Tudravu says the Ministry of Finance can answer that because there are other government departments which also need transport.

He says with the current fleet they have, they are managing.

While responding to the issue, Professor Prasad says the Coalition Government has provided around 379 vehicles and 159 motorcycles to the Force, and this has increased over the years.

Professor Prasad says there has also been an increase in the budget for the Fiji Police Force from around $183 million to $226 million in the recent budget, which is an increase of $43 million in 2 years.

He says in terms of personnel, the Coalition Government is now funding a total of 5,456 police officers and 100 civilians in the force.

He adds that is an increase of over 600 positions in the last 2 years.

Professor Prasad says the Government has also invested in new infrastructure like the 3 new Police Stations in Nadi, Lautoka and Nakasi costing over $100 million.

He says nonetheless, the Government agrees that resource needs continue to grow as the Policing environment gets challenging, however, it has to be managed within an overall funding envelope as there are other competing priorities.

Professor Prasad adds they will work closely with the Fiji Police Force to ensure they are adequately resourced to deliver their responsibilities.