The Hon. Aboobucker Athambawa

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I am pleased to participate in the Adjournment debate on the national program to eradicate drugs and crime and to strengthen the legal framework, brought by the Government.

¶ 02 We know that in the 1980s harmful narcotics were brought into this country by liberals. After the 30-year war, in 2009, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, drug use peaked across the country. Youth, university students, schoolchildren—even young women—have fallen into drug use. We hear that politicians have been behind import, distribution and use. Some politicians have used black money from the drug trade for political gain.

¶ 03 Rising drug use has impacted our economy, arts and culture. If we want to rebuild the economy, we must control and eradicate drug use. The Hon. President is very focused on completely eradicating drugs from this country, and parents—especially mothers—are thankful for this.

¶ 04 The national program to eliminate drugs is being discussed nationwide. While we debated drugs here from morning, the Opposition spoke for their political gain instead. Perhaps they fear that if drugs are fully eradicated, they cannot thrive in politics or reach Parliament in the future. Thus, they try to indirectly sabotage this program. We strongly condemn attempts to portray parties like the NPP as racist on the basis of a few social media posts.

¶ 05 The Muslim community is now deciding to support the Hon. President because wherever he visits, he speaks about eradicating drugs. We are ready, across party and colour lines, to extend all cooperation to eliminate drugs. As part of this, we have organized a national event on the 30th, among many programs at village, district and national levels. Opposition members should also join and help this initiative to succeed—only then can we guide our youth as we envision and lead the country towards our goals.

¶ 06 Those enslaved by drugs are generally economically vulnerable. Using proceeds from drugs, some get into various sectors that harm the country. Drugs inflict both physical and psychological damage on youth and shorten lives through lethal chemicals. Trafficking involves the underworld and even global networks. We must identify and punish them. As the NPP, we will continuously conduct programs each year to eliminate drugs.

¶ 07 There are now hundreds of youths affected by drugs who need rehabilitation. We must provide counseling and employment opportunities across districts. Through these measures, we can rebuild the country and hand it to future generations as a nation without drug use. Thank you.