Pacific Island countries urged to address security issues

PACIFIC Island countries must continue to work together to address security issues because of climate change, transnational crimes, and revenue avoidance, according to Papua New Guinea Customs.
PNG Customs Chief commissioner David Towe said this during the fourth Joint Heads of Pacific Security meeting held in Fiji.
He said there needed to be a use of the existing regional organisation and structures to aid in the capabilities of security in the Pacific. Towe said the delegates had agreed to establish a partnership for information sharing with a view to enhance regional maritime security to mitigate the security issues faced by the Pacific Island countries due to climate change and the current illegal fishing, illicit substances, and other threats.
The delegates discussed the security dimensions of climate change and explored opportunities to develop security capabilities across the Pacific for preparedness and effective response.
More than 70 delegates, including officials of regional bodies and observers from Australia, Japan and the United States, attended the meeting.
Keynote speaker, former Kiribati president Anote Tong urged the heads of security to find answers to the questions he had raised at many forums while in office.
“We must save the island to save the world,” he said.
Towe discussed the impact of rising sea levels and the displacement of Bougainville’s Carteret Islanders, emphasising to the forum that it needed to act promptly because the effects of climate change were real.
He said the forum had agreed to 18 outcomes called the ‘Denarau Outcomes’ that would be circulated among the participating countries.
PNG will host the sixth meeting in November, 2024, after Palau accepted the invitation to host the fifth edition next year.