BY LYNTON AARON FILIA
THE Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) will support the Ministry of Health and Medical Services in its campaign against smoking in public places.
Police Commissioner Mr Mathew Varley announced this last week in his media conference.
He said RSIPF at the moment is focussing on prosecuting unlicensed vehicles and drink driving, but they will also support MHMS on its quest to forbid smoking in public transports.
Mr Varley said, “We understand the laws had been passed licensed not to smoke on public transport and where police can come across that we can prosecute that on board.
“We will support MHMS in its very important campaign around smoking on public transport, and also working very close with other authorities and inspectors from the council.”
Varley said they will attend to reports of people smoking in public places and transport.
He said there are already cases in which his officers have pulled taxi and bus drivers over for smoking while driving passsengers.
He adds, so far they have not charged anyone as yet, but they can be prosecuted.
“But frankly with the limited resources that we have I would much rather have police officers focus on taking action in relation to remove drink drive off the road then smoking bus drivers and conductors.
“That’s not to say we are not taking it seriously but also have to prioritize the risk of what we are dealing with.”
At the moment, Varley said they are focussed on drink driving which is the major cause of dangerous driving.
