The Kiwi-Indian owner of a dairy store in Auckland that was ram raided last week says small businesses are finding it “harder to survive” under the shadow of rising retail crime.
Burglars crashed their car into the shopfront at Handy Store on April 18, 2023, in the South Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe. The owner, who does not wish to be named, told The Indian Weekender, "I learned about the incident, which took place at about 11.50pm, once I got a call after the alarm went off. When I reached there, the police were already at the scene doing their examination.”
The owner hails from Gujarat in western India, and has been operating the shop for the past seven years. "It is getting tough for small business owners to survive in this time where crime incidents are increasing with each passing day. It is getting harder to survive. The government is saying many things they would do to contain these crime incidents, but nothing is happening on the ground. We are forced to live fearing being attacked, robbed or ram-raided,” he says.
The police say they are still trying to ascertain exactly how many offenders entered the store and took off with items. The police’s media team spokesperson told The Indian Weekender, “Enquiries into the incident are well underway, which includes a scene examination, statements from the victim, and a victim support referral for them. CCTV has been obtained, and we are now reviewing this. There are no further updates at this early stage of our investigation, but the police will be working quickly to identify those involved and hold them accountable. Anyone with information is asked to contact the police on 105, quoting file number 230419/0945."
Burglars targetted another store in Papatoetoe the same night, a fruit and vegetable shop, at about 2.30am and reportedly left a trail of destruction. Police said they were working to establish if the two incidents are linked.
Regular burglaries have kept many small businesses on the edge across New Zealand, especially in Auckland. Store owners, many of them Kiwi-Indians, have called for stricter laws to deal with the perpetrators, particularly youth offenders.
This week, National leader Christopher Luxon told The Indian Weekender “we've got a government that's soft on crime”. “I've got a government that often sides with the offender, rather than the victim,” he said.
The Opposition leader says if he were elected prime minister later this year, his government will set up a military style rehabilitation programme for repeat youth offenders, a plan that has received some criticism.
“I don't mind the criticism…we have to teach these young people rights and responsibilities. There were earlier versions [of the military-style programme] in 2008, 2009 period. There was a 15 per cent reduction in offending, but most importantly a 55 per cent reduction in violent crime. This is a much more comprehensive, better programme that is built on those learnings. And I think it will do really well,” he told The Indian Weekender.