The appointment of Colonel Trevor MacMillan as the new national security minister has added to the growing number of ex-army officers employed in vital areas of government agencies and other critical positions across the island.

The list includes Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, who heads the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and Major Richard Reese, who has been the commissioner of corrections for the last five years. Reese is the man in charge of the country's penal facilities.

Former chief of staff, Rear Admiral Peter Brady ,is the director general of the Maritime Authority. Colonel Torrance Lewis is the director general at the Civil Aviation Authority. Former head of the Transport Authority, Commander John McFarlane, is in charge of security at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.

Security manager

Meanwhile, Colonel Norman Tomlinson is the security manager at MBJ Airports Limited in Montego Bay, St James.

The head of the University of the West Indies Safety and Emergency Unit, Major Clive Davis, is also an ex-soldier.

The list further comprises regional operations manager at the National Solid Waste Management Authority, Major Milverton Munroe, and Captain John Ulett who is the managing director of Security Administrator Limited, a subsidiary of Kingston Wharves.

The sitting member of parliament for North Clarendon, Laurie Broderick, left the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) more than 35 years ago after attaining the rank of captain. Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, he hailed Col MacMillan as a man capable for the job.

"The weakness is in our social programmes," argued Broderick.

Commander Floyd Patterson is the mayor of Port Antonio.