Building rehabilitation centers to help the government combat drug misuse is is vital and Catholic businessmen can help, the head of the National Narcotics Bureau (BNN) said yesterday. Talking to a national gathering of Catholic business leaders, Gories Mere invited them to join a “group called Catholic Professionals and Businessmen (PUKAT) to build rehabilitation centers for untreated drug addicts so as to prevent them from being soft targets of drug trafficking.” Around 200 members of PUKAT attended their second national meeting, which finished yesterday, in the governor’s house in Kupang, capital of East Nusa Tenggara province. “If PUKAT builds rehabilitation centers for untreated drug addicts, BNN will support it by providing professional advisers,” Mere added, saying that building rehabilitation centers may indicate Catholics’ participation in preventing and combating drug trafficking. The rehabilitation centers should be built in the border area between Indonesia and Timor Leste since it has had a big illegal drug trade within the last five years, he suggested. “Border areas have become an entry of illegal drug trade from Jakarta and Surabaya. East Nusa Tenggara is now becoming a new target of this illegal drug trade,” he said. He also mentioned Atambua, Kupang and Maumere as three towns in the province which are vulnerable to drug misuse, mainly by senior high school and university students. “We must pay attention to the future of our next generation. We can help the government combat drug misuse,” he said. Combating drug misuse in the country involves four important elements, namely prevention, awareness, rehabilitation and extermination. “This is not only the government’s task but also all Indonesian people,” Mere added. Related Report: Wealthy Catholics ‘must help poorDrugs bureau warns of further abuse
