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Make soldiers earn their keep
Published: Monday | May 18, 2009
The Editor, Sir:
The minister of national security, on his recent visit to Up Park Camp, commented on the deplorable state of disrepair that the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) 'plant' is in.
Before Nelson commits to spending more of our hard-earned dollars on repairing the facilities at the army base, however, I need for the JDF to tell us how these soldiers spend their days? We are not engaged in wars or states of emergencies and soldiers are not expected to do day-to-day police/security work, so what are they doing to preserve and keep their surroundings habitable?
By my observation, the very grass on the property is overgrown. Don't soldiers know how to use a lawnmower or bush whacker? Can soldiers not paint or do basic mason work? This is where they work and live, so why should taxpayers have to repair their 'slum-style' living quarters? How did it get to that?
What do the complement of soldiers do on a day-to-day basis? How do they move this nation forward? Tell us how many training courses we pay for to send them to learn all kinds of skills that they barely utilise here at home, and tell me why we are not sending them to HEART to learn practical skills as is consistent with other armed forces across the world?
I am, etc.,
FRANCINE RICHARDS
francinerichards@gmail.com
Kingston 8.
Published: Monday | May 18, 2009
The Editor, Sir:
The minister of national security, on his recent visit to Up Park Camp, commented on the deplorable state of disrepair that the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) 'plant' is in.
Before Nelson commits to spending more of our hard-earned dollars on repairing the facilities at the army base, however, I need for the JDF to tell us how these soldiers spend their days? We are not engaged in wars or states of emergencies and soldiers are not expected to do day-to-day police/security work, so what are they doing to preserve and keep their surroundings habitable?
By my observation, the very grass on the property is overgrown. Don't soldiers know how to use a lawnmower or bush whacker? Can soldiers not paint or do basic mason work? This is where they work and live, so why should taxpayers have to repair their 'slum-style' living quarters? How did it get to that?
What do the complement of soldiers do on a day-to-day basis? How do they move this nation forward? Tell us how many training courses we pay for to send them to learn all kinds of skills that they barely utilise here at home, and tell me why we are not sending them to HEART to learn practical skills as is consistent with other armed forces across the world?
I am, etc.,
FRANCINE RICHARDS
francinerichards@gmail.com
Kingston 8.