National service right way to go

THE EDITOR: Many years ago, long-time letter writer Richard Trestrail first suggested compulsory national service as a way to find meaningful occupations for the unemployable.

He has since written a similar letter on another four occasions while I have written on the subject three times.

We are all aware of the thousands of dropouts from primary, junior secondary and senior secondary schools who simply hang around the streets waiting for trouble to happen. Yet the authorities do little about the problem except to hand out questionable CEPEP contracts to even more questionable characters.

Into this cauldron of hopeless inaction by the authorities, the proliferation of gang activity was a given. So, we now have a huge gang problem and dwindling resources to deal with it.

However, while you grapple with the short to medium-term issues caused by the current tidal wave of gang-driven criminality of all kinds, we can still make three-year national service compulsory for all 18-year-old nationals who are either not otherwise employed or attending a recognised institute of higher learning. It is simply the common-sense thing to do.

GREGORY WIGHT, Maraval

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"National service right way to go"

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