AIYAZ SAYED-KHAIYUM
ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND MINISTER FOR JUSTICE, ANTI-CORRUPTION, PUBLIC ENTERPRISES, COMMUNICATIONS, CIVIL AVIATION, TOURISM, INDUSTRY AND TRADE AND MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR ELECTIONS

SPEECH AT FIJI POLICE REMEMBRANCE DAY

PSRU Drill Square
September 27th, 2013
Suva 4.30AM

Acting Police Commissioner,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Guests,
Police Officers,
Friends and family,
My fellow Fijians,

It is a great honour to be with you this morning as we gather to remember the members of the Police Force, serving and retired, officers and staff, who have passed away this year, as well as all those who went before them.

We remember them for the contributions they made to our nation.

We thank them for their important work in the pursuit of a safer, fairer and more just Fiji.

It is their job to serve, and it is our job to remember, to hold them in our memories.

To their families and friends, I give our nation’s thanks and express our gratitude. You are no doubt proud of your loved one’s service, and we share that pride with you.

To our active police officers, it is up to you to follow in the footsteps of the men and women who came before. To do justice to their legacy.

Police officers, now as then, are called upon to put the security and welfare of others before everything else, including themselves.

The risks you face in the performance of this duty is something that we all recognise. You serve to keep us and our families safe and our property secure, in full knowledge of the dangers involved, and for this we give thanks.

But service also means that we must resist complacency and corruption, and always strive for excellence. It means that we must value honesty, justice and accountability above all else.

These are very exciting times for Fiji. There is a new supreme law that governs our land, after H.E. our President gave his assent to Fiji’s new Constitution earlier this month.

It is important that you all read this document and become familiar with it. Many ordinary Fijians will look to you not just for security, but for guidance as role models in the community.

You are also serving in a world that is rapidly changing, with the advances of technology and the effects of globalization. And crime is changing with it. Transnational and international crime is becoming more common and is certainly not something we are immune to in Fiji.

I am encouraged to hear about the police team from New Zealand that recently came to Fiji to work with our canine unit. Such cooperation benefits all in our region, and it is my sincere hope that our neighbours review their policies to encourage more exchanges like this.

Certainly, today we honour those police officers who have been slain in the line of duty in New Zealand, Australia and the rest of the South West Pacific, as we mark the 24th year of Police Remembrance Day in our region.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With those few words, today we celebrate the memories of those who have left us and pay our tribute of remembrance.

On behalf of our Prime Minister and the Fijian people, I give our thanks to the departed. They will never be forgotten.

Vinaka Vakalevu. Thank you.