Lami youth and church leaders meet to discuss issues within their community

Barriers were broken as community, church and youth leaders in the wider Lami area met to discuss issues within their communities for the first time.

Forty two participants who are part of a National Substance Abuse Workshop talked about sex addiction, gambling among students and even ways to help rehabilitate inmates that return to Lami.

Speaking at the workshop at the Lami Parish hall Sergeant Timoci Buliruarua says they recently received complaints about primary school students gambling in school.

Buliruarua says he has been based at the Lami Police Station for 24 years and he is now seeing the emergence of cases which would not only require the help of police but other relevant authorities as well.

Participants have also agreed to use their community groups to help people with sex addiction problems.

They believe this would help solve the growing number of rape cases in the country.

Chairman of the Lami Neighbourhood Watch Zone Jone Raco says they have also planned to set up an awareness team to visit communities around Lami.

He says they would first focus on Nadonumai which has recently become a crime prone community.

The workshop which is organised by the National Substance Abuse Advisory Council and the Southern Division community policing team will finish today.