Member of Parliament MP Ana Ribeiro urged the Timorese National Police (PNTL) to raise awareness for rural residents about the different types of illegal drugs as many people seem unfamiliar with this topic in Timor-Leste.
The MP added the community plays an important role in the prevention of drugs in society and as such the police is expected to raise people’s consciousness and to ask for cooperation with security authorities.
“It’s necessary to inform people of how illegal drugs look like, how many types of drugs there are and how the drugs impact on people’s health and their future in particular for the youth,” said MP Ribeiro at the National Parliament in Dili.
In response to the concern, The Commander of the Criminal Investigation Service (CIS) Commissioner Ludgerio Lay said PNTL has raised awareness about the drugs to both urban and rural residents.
“Police through the community police unit and SIK have raised awareness about the types of drugs and the impacts of drugs on a person’s health and his/her future,” said Commissioner Lay.
Despite raising awareness, some people are still unfamiliar with the drugs, in particular those who live in remote areas.
“One of our limitation in ensuring we do our job is that we don’t have means to get there,” he added.
The Commander assured that PNTL would make greater efforts to ensure everyone in the community is informed about drugs and its negative impact on the community.
