- Norman Grindley/Staff Photographer
Opportunity-seeking applicants queue up at Up Park Camp, South Camp Road, St. Andrew, yesterday for the Corporate Area leg of the JDF recruitment drive, which continues today.
Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
BAD TEETH, tardiness and not wearing a necktie were among the various reasons the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) rejected several young men yesterday during the first day of the Corporate Area leg of its recruitment drive.
Despite being turned down, they could not leave the vicinity. They lined the fence at Up Park Camp on South Camp Road wearing dejected demeanours, while their fingers gripped the meshed fence as they stared ardently at the opportunity of being all they can slip away.
For some, there is still today, but for others yesterday's rejection sealed their fate. Joining the armed forces, for many, is a way out of a life of poverty and an escape route from the deceitfully lucrative career option as a criminal.
"I want to be a part of the solution and not the problem, because if mi tek up mi gun and bus it, dem a go 'fraid," said an 18-year-old from St. Mary, who requested anonymity.
LATE ARRIVAL
The St. Mary native, who left home at 5 a.m. just to arrive on time, was rejected because he had a chipped tooth. While disheartened by the rejection, the Charlemount High School graduate said he would be paying his dentist a visit and be prepared for next year.
Ricardo Lewis, 19, a native of Bog Walk, St. Catherine, left his home at 4 a.m., but still arrived late. He lamented that the Corporate Area traffic crippled his attempts of arriving on time, as he got to the JDF headquarters at 8 a.m.
However, the teenager told The Gleaner that he has found solace in the fact that the recruiting drive continues today. Still, he has to solve the mountainous task of arriving on time. "I will try and leave earlier," he said.
Dushane Keddon, 20, from Cross Hill in Clarendon, also left home at 4 a.m. He, too, fell prey to the bumper-to-bumper traffic clog. Young Dushane told The Gleaner that he tried to air his plight, but there was no ear to listen. "I have been trying to talk to one of the soldiers but they are not listening," he emphasised.
While standing unassumingly at the gate, The Gleaner overheard a soldier who was manning the entrance unsympathetically turning away a group of aspiring soldiers who tried fervently to get inside. "If you live far, stay far and get a job," the soldier said in swift dismissal of their reasons for being late.
As is customary, the drive was flocked by scores of immaculately attired young men.
