By Staff Writer
The Tafaigata Police Academy will have an added role as an enforcement watchdog once it is set up, for the surrounding Tafaigata, Nu’u and Vaitele -uta residential settlements.
Police Minister, Tialavea John Hunt, is aware of regular lawlessness incidents in the rapidly growing village settings and agrees that it needs attention.
“There will be police stationed at the academy so they can look after that area as well,” Tialavea promised.
A series of violent incidents in the area has already ended in fatality; the more recent was a male who was deliberately run over by another male driver in a drunken rage.
Youth violence is also a lingering concern to the quiet community after a stone fight broke out a few months ago along the Nu’u stretch to road.
Risk of damage to a predominantly business community is cause for concern in the area.
Tialavea lives in the neighbourhood and admitted to running into problems himself.
“There was no regard shown even for a Minister’s car as the young people roamed freely at will on the road in the evening with little care for anyone.
“As soon as the police patrol drives around, off they go until it’s safe to come out again.”
The Minister has taken up his concerns with the Ministry of Women and Social Community Developments over the role of selected Government representatives in the villages or ‘pulenu’u.’
He is urging more input from the ‘pulenu’u’ in organising leadership roles in the community.
The challenge, however, in these settlement villages is the absence of chiefs and orators in a traditional setting that carries a lot of authority respected by everyone.
The pulenu’u for the Nu’u settlement has already admitted that the best resort when it comes to youth violence is the police.
Residents in the area are families drawn from everywhere to live as individuals in freehold lands they bought for themselves.