‘Over Exaggeration in Criminal Activities Rise'

Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad claims there is an over exaggeration of criminal activities in Fiji by the media and social media influencers.

Speaking in Nadi at the weekend, Mr Prasad urged the media not to be “alarmists”.

“Don’t go to social media influencers who exaggerate stuff,” Mr Prasad said.

“We’re not saying crime is not happening, in fact in the drug area which is the problem,” he said.

“We need to keep emphasising that this is not a problem created by this Government alone; it also stems from the previous government’s failure to address it.

“People weren’t talking about it before. Now you are free to ask these questions, you are free to pick something from social media and say Government is not doing anything about it.”

He said there needed to be understanding that the stats were not alarming as some people would like to believe them to be.

“We acknowledge that there is certain area where crime has increased, particularly with drugs. But some of you act like some of these never happened before.”

Mr Prasad also released the following crime statistics from 2019-2024:

• 2019- 19,838 offences
• 2020- 24,392
• 2021- 18,769
• 2022- 17,538
• 2023- 16,098
• 2024- 20,035

“This shows that the Coalition Government has taken the drug issue head on; more people are being arrested, more taken to court, more drugs busts. These statistics are better than what was there before they also include reports.

“We are acknowledging that the crime rates are increasing, the figures show really clearly. We are saying the crime rate overall has gone up from 16,000 to 20,000. This is still less than the years before that.

“Previously, there were a lot of crimes happening, but media did not cover them because of their fear of the previous government.”

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