TO ENSURE its readiness for the upcoming general election the St. Elizabeth Police have met with eight of the nine candidates who will be contesting.

Head of the St. Elizabeth Police Division, Herman Brown, encouraged the candidates to maintain a cordial relationship with their colleagues especially during the last few weeks before the election. "I want to remind you to be mindful of your responsibilities as it relates to notifying the police prior to your campaign meetings," Mr. Brown added.

"My brothers and sisters, I want to encourage you to keep the campaign clean and free from violence," Mr. Brown told the candidates at the divisional headquarters of the St. Elizabeth Police on Friday.

"If you see any of our policemen acting or talking anything about politics please report it and let us deal with them," the Superintendent said.

Speaking on the behalf of the People's National Party (PNP) candidate, Minister of Water and Housing, Donald Buchanan, said the election campaign was in high gear. He also lauded the effort of Superintendent Brown whereby all the candidates who will be running in the parish could come together to pledge their commitment for a peaceful election campaign in the parish.

"I am of the view that the campaign period will not be a lengthy one," Mr. Buchanan said, adding that St. Elizabeth was not known to have violent incidents at election time. "We are known to conduct peaceful election campaign over the years."

Representing the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidates, Derrick Sangster said that all the candidates should ensure that their supporters followed the rules during the election campaign. "While we are out there presenting the policies and ideas of our respective parties in a forceful manner, we should seek to avoid character assassination and violence," Mr. Sangster added.