Police Commissioner says budget cut won't affect operations

The Fiji Police Force will receive $226.5 million in the 2026-2027 National Budget, down $13.8 million from last year's allocation, but Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu says the Force's operations and fight against drugs will not be affected.

The reduced allocation comes as the Government maintains its crackdown on illicit drugs, with funding to recruit more officers when finances improve and additional support for narcotics operations.

Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel, in his Budget address on Friday, confirmed the lower allocation and said the Government remained committed to strengthening the Force.

The first phase of recruiting 538 additional officers was completed in the 2025-2026 financial year, increasing the Force's strength to more than 5,000 officers. The Government will fund a second intake of 538 officers once its financial position improves. In the meantime, the Force will fill about 400 vacant positions.

"I can promise that our service will not be affected as we continue to source the operations from what has been allocated to us," Commissioner Tudravu said.

He confirmed a pool of recruits was already in place and the recruitment process to fill the 400 vacancies would begin immediately.

The Ministry of Policing and Communications has been allocated $34.2 million, including $1.6 million to support narcotics operations and continue establishing the Counter Narcotics Bureau as the country's central agency for coordinating the fight against illicit drugs.

The Joint Counter Narcotics Task Force, established this year by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and the Fiji Police Force, has been leading operations against illicit drugs and transnational crime.

Minister for Policing Ioane Naivalurua said the allocation was sufficient, provided resources were managed effectively.

"We need to be very clear on the process and procedures. There's got to be very close monitoring of utilisation, but it's all doable," Mr Naivalurua said.

The Budget also provides $6.8 million to WALESI to improve nationwide digital connectivity and $4 million to continue digitising the construction permit approval process under the Ministry of Policing and Communications.