Ten people, among them, two business owners, are due to appear before a magistrates’ court in Fiji’s second city, Lautoka, this afternoon over breach of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
The country’s Commissioner of Police Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho told MAI TV the 10 people would be produced in court for allegedly disobeying lawful order.
When prompted if the actions by the 10 people showed lack of understanding and the lack of awareness around how contagious and fatal the virus is and whether police will do some thing or with another organization to raise awareness over the issue to educate the masses, Qiliho said:
“Police officers have been going out and creating awareness on the need to adhere to the lockdown restrictions which has also been publicised at large by the mainstream media and the official Government social media platforms, the Ministry of Health etc.
Commissioner of Police, Brig-Gen Sitiveni Qiliho
“There has been extensive awareness conducted on this but there are still people who choose to disobey the lawful orders.”
According to police, the two business operators opened their grog and DVD shops, both of which do not fall in the category of essential services. The two were warned, but refused to cooperate.
“All we are asking is for people to cooperate so we can get through these challenging situation together as a nation and prevent more Fijians from becoming victims of this virus that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people all around the world,” Qiliho said.
