Kamikamica urges new radio station to fight youth drug problem

Acting Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica has urged Fiji’s newest radio station, United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) Life FM 87.8, to help fight the country’s growing illicit drug problem among young people.

He made the call as he officially launched the station at Studio 6 in Suva today.

Mr Kamikamica said illicit drugs were an issue that should concern every Fijian, regardless of political affiliation, religious belief, ethnicity or background.

“It affects our families, our communities, our health system, our economy, and most importantly, the future of our young people,” he said.

He said while law enforcement agencies had a responsibility to disrupt traffickers, enforcement alone would not solve the problem.

Mr Kamikamica said the country needed to understand why young people had become vulnerable to drugs in the first place.

“We must ask whether they feel connected to their families and community, whether they have opportunity, whether they have hope, whether they have positive role models,” he said.

Mr Kamikamica said the response had to involve families, schools, communities, health professionals, civil society, faith organisations, the private sector and the media.

Fiji Sevens legend and Life FM brand ambassador Waisele Serevi, who grew up listening to radio commentary before television reached Fiji in 1991, said the new station could shape young lives the way sport once shaped his.

US pastor Jeff Vines, of One&All Church in Los Angeles, said the station offered young Fijians “a message of hope” at a time when many were searching for answers about purpose and meaning in life.

Life FM chief executive Tomu Raiviu said the station, targeting listeners aged 13 to 25, would broadcast from Suva before expanding to Lautoka and later Labasa in Vanua Levu.