COMPULSORY national service could be used as an alternative punishment for the approximately 1,000 people currently imprisoned for using drugs, Independent Senator and senior counsel, Dana Seetahal, has said.

Speaking yesterday at a panel discussion entitled ’A Case for National Compulsory Service’ hosted by media corporation Citadel Ltd at City Hall, Port of Spain, Seetahal suggested that the offenders could be offered the option of national service instead of conviction.

She also questioned who compulsory national service would target and suggested that the only way for it to be compulsory was to pass legislation.

’Serve or go to jail. Do we want to go that far?’

She said, on the other hand, if it was semi-voluntary some people could drop out of the programme, creating another problem. Seetahal added that there could be some form of national service and have it work in Trinidad and Tobago.

Also making a presentation was Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert, who said the Police Service would strongly support national service, pointing out that a similar programme was successful in Singapore.

He noted that such a programme would reduce gangs and gang involvement. He also cautioned that national service should not breach anyone’s constitutional rights by forcing people, but there needed to be intriguing ways to invite the young population to participate.

He also said that national service should not target a specific group, which was a mistake in the past, but should be all encompassing, including business people, professionals and volunteers.

Philbert added that there must be a strong aspect of ethics and integrity, and the focus should be on national pride and patriotism. He said that in the study of the recent economic failure of other countries it was discovered that the financial wizards were never taught ethics.

’Any kind of skill or academic (training) must be grounded with strong ethical teachings,’ he said.

He noted that in his 42 years in the Police Service ’there is an indication of great decay’ of patriotism and another problem was the absence of the male figure, notably in community and parent teacher meetings. He also lamented the loss of a great number of young men in the past four years due to violence, about 2,500, saying, ’the cemeteries (are) now richer.’

Seetahal recalled that between 2002 and 2007 she defended several young men under the age of 18, seven of whom had been convicted of murdering strangers. One of the young men, aged 15 at the time, had killed someone a relative told him was a State witness.

She said a common characteristic of these cases was no visible father.