The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) is taking its Kwaso Action Plan to the rest of the provinces after introducing the Plan in Honiara City and Guadalcanal Province.
The RSIPF Assistant Commissioner, Provincial, Joseph Manelugu recently visited Malaita and Central Provinces to talk about the Kwaso Action Plan. The visits were coordinated by officers of the New Zealand Government funded, Solomon Islands Police Support Program (SIPSP).
“The trips to Auki and Tulagi are to begin the initial phase of designing a provincial plan for both Malaita and Central Provinces. This piece of work follows on from plans already in place in Guadalcanal and Honiara City, each of which sits under a national strategic action plan,” ACP Manelugu explains.
He adds: “The action plans are one way that the RSIPF are now operationalizing the Crime Prevention Strategy. Awareness activities in communities have been conducted for many years, but as a single and isolated activity it cannot achieve the impact that is needed.”
“Kwaso is a very serious national issue that must be addressed through innovative activities and cross-sector collaboration. The Kwaso Action Plans are designed with these principles in mind and seek to target and address underlying causes of brewing and consumption of the illegal substance,” says ACP Manelugu.
He explains: “The RSIPF will always support our communities to rid themselves of kwaso. We must remember however that kwaso is just a symptom of larger social issues, such as unemployment and lack of access to education, and we must all work towards addressing those issues together.”
The SIPSP team are also working with Provincial Trainers to ensure that all staff are able to have the skills and experience needed to help communities and stakeholders to address these issues together.