Courtesy Call

The Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Fiji, His Excellency Dupito Darma Simamora paid a courtesy call to the Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew yesterday.

The visit was an opportunity to discuss furthering cooperation between the Fiji Police Force and the Indonesian National Police.

Since the formalization of the Memorandum of Understanding on Police Cooperation in 2011, police exchange programs have covered fields of traffic management, cyber-crime, technical support on investigations, mobile and tactical policing and narcotics.

A major outcome of the MOU has been the establishment of the Fiji Police Narcotics Bureau through the support of the National Narcotic Board of the Republic of Indonesia.

In 2015, the working partnership was formalized between the two institutions specifically focusing on the narcotics trade, the facilitation of information exchange on networks and capacity building and training between the two countries.

Another significant outcome of the MOU has been educational opportunities provided to Fijian Police officers at Indonesia’s renowned police and defense training institutions.

Acting Commissioner Chew and Assistant Commissioner of Police – Internal Affairs and Professional Standards, Sakeo Ganivatu are alumni of the Sespimen Staff College, and currently completing his studies at the same College is the Director Operations Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kasiano Vusonilawe.

The Acting Commissioner said the FPF was looking to identify a female officer to take up the next training opportunity offered by INP. H.E. Mr Simamora said he was eager to facilitate police to police cooperation training opportunities, and shared sentiments by the Acting Commissioner, that police cooperation needed to be looked at from a regional and sub-regional perspective, as crime transcends borders and law enforcement needed to work together in tackling all forms of criminal activities.