PICP Report: Paramount Chief Mauga’s speech “heartfelt”

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — During the 48th Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (PICP) conference hosted by American Samoa on Aug. 21-23, Paramount Chief Mauga T. Asuega, delivered a “heartfelt talk” during the session titled, “Impacts on a Pacific Community”.

This is according to the PICP’s communique issued this week to its Pacific members, with a summary of the conference, under the theme: “A Pacific United: Preventing Drug Harm Within Our Communities”.

It says that presentations during the four sessions “painted a concerning picture of drug trafficking in the Pacific and growing domestic drug demand.” Recommendations made during the conference included improving cross-jurisdictional and inter-agency intelligence sharing in the Pacific, developing financial intelligence, investing in forensics and border control (resources, training and safety measures), and addressing legislative gaps and policies.

“In contrast to the very factual presentations by industry experts, was the heartfelt talk from Paramount Chief Mauga T. Asuega who spoke of the impact of drugs in his local community,” the communique said. “His words brought the message home of why this work is so important.”

The conference aimed to present current and relevant information and collective knowledge from a range of industry experts, around disrupting the supply and reducing the demand for illicit drugs. The 2020 conference — to be hosted by Fiji — will be the 50th  anniversary of the forming of the PICP, formerly known as the South Pacific Chiefs of Police Conference, which was established in Fiji. The theme of the 2020 conference is yet to be announced.