Serious crime, violence and murder are at an all-time high and the response of the police is to dust off an 80-year-old law relating to opening hours and dress codes in bars. This is announced as the police's new focal point.

This is madness.

Stafford Earle

stafango@gmail.com

Bluefields, Westmoreland

Get your facts right, please

In the Note-worthy column of Friday's publication, Tamara B. suggested that the civil service may have a significant number of persons who are not in possession of the requisite academic qualification for the jobs they hold.

While there are going to be workers who are not 'lettered', as is the case in any labour force, this assertion has no basis in reality. The fact is the Jamaican public sector boasts the highest levels of academic qualification ever, so much so that the saying is that "degrees are dime a dozen" in the sector.

An examination of the enrolment listing of any of our universities and other tertiary institutions reveals that of the working student population, the majority of students are public officers.

Through various efforts, especially during the period of the 1990s, public officers have been trained, retrained and certified to carry out their functions. The Management Institute for National Development has done a remarkable job in preparing and certifying workers in the sector, and today, is a leading training institution in Jamaica and continues to help raise the level of qualification in the sector.

Public-sector workers, by nature of their jobs, present an attractive target for public criticism, especially at this time of economic malaise in the society, but let it be on the basis of facts, and not what you think.

Wayne Jones

wstaj2005@yahoo.co.uk

Jamaica Civil Service Association

Accept the CCJ

It would be good for the country if the prime minister were to accept the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as Jamaica's final court of appeal. However, the ruling by the Privy Council that the CCJ had to be entrenched in the Constitution was and is absurd. If the founding fathers didn't think it necessary to entrench the Privy Council in the Constitution, where do they come off saying that any final court must be entrenched?

The ruling by the local Court of Appeal in this matter is the one that should guide the Government and Opposition. After all, the CCJ will also be a 'foreign court', so how do you entrench in the Constitution something you ultimately won't control.

L. H. Perrin

lperrin@primus.ca

Ontario, Canada