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Official election results…
The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) announced that the official recount of ballots would be completed today.

The recount began yesterday at centres across the island following Wednesday’s local government elections.

Preliminary results show the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have won nine councils and the Peoples’ National Party (PNP) three. A tie was declared in the St. Ann Parish Council with both parties winning eight divisions each.

Former Mayor of Portmore, George Lee has indicated that he will not be contesting the final results for the municipality.

The count showed him losing to the JLP’s Keith Hinds by more than 200 votes.

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Local government results…

The ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have won the local government elections, which electoral officials say had a 42 percent voter turnout.

The JLP won nine of the 13 parish councils, but lost Manchester and Hanover to the opposition Peoples’ National Party (PNP).

Following the 2003 polls, the PNP retained Westmoreland council and the Portmore municipality. Preliminary results indicate that the PNP’s incumbent Mayoral candidate George Lee won the municipality by 27 votes over the JLP’s Keith Hinds.

However, in St. Ann a tie was declared with both the JLP and PNP, winning eight divisions each in the 16-seat council.

In Central Manchester, the JLP’s Sally Porteous won the Mandeville Division over the PNP’s Jones Oliphant. The party also triumphed in St Mary where it won 10 of the 13 divisions.

Joyce Young of the JLP lost the Duhaney Park division of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) to the PNP’s Kevin Taylor.

Election recount on…
The official recounting of ballots are now underway at centres islandwide following yesterday’s parish council elections.

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) had won nine councils and the PNP three, while the St. Ann Parish Council declared a tie with eight divisions each.

Director of Elections Danville Walker announced that the recounts would be completed by Friday.

St. Ann results…
Former mayor of St. Ann’s Bay, Delroy Giscombe announced that the parties would have to find an amicable way to conduct the business of the council. His statement follows the tie in the local government elections. “The JLP councillors have much work to do among the residents of St. Ann” he said.

The JLP who enjoyed a two-seat majority in the previous council, lost two of its sitting councillors.

Lurline Robinson, councillor for the Lime Hall Division, lost to newcomer Desmond Gilmour. While, PNP newcomer, Ian Bell, defeated Conrad Coombs for the Beecher Town Division.

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Analysts on voter turnout…

Political analysts are attributing yesterday’s low voter turnout at the polls to the country’s high crime rate, and a historical disinterest in local elections.

Charlene Sharpe-Pryce said that many persons were still weary from the general elections, and in some instances traumatised by the incidents of crime.

Meanwhile, Gleaner columnist Martin Henry thought some persons had just lost faith in the local government process.

Parties assess performance
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) expressed disappointment  at  the loss of the Manchester and Hanover parish councils to the Opposition Peoples’ National Party (PNP) during yesterday’s election results.

However, Party Leader, Bruce Golding  took the opportunity to reaffirm the party’s commitment to carrying out local government reform.

Meanwhile, PNP General Secretary, Donald Buchanan said his party performed creditably considering the closeness of the September 3 general elections.

Golding summons MPs
Prime Minister, Bruce Golding has summoned State Minister with responsibility for Local Government Bobby Montague and Junior Housing Minister, Everald Warmington to a meeting today.

It’s expected that the meeting will address certain controversial statements made by both men during the lead up to yesterday’s elections.

According to reports Mr. Montague told supporters at a rally in Portland on Monday night, that the roads in the Fellowship Division would not be repaired, if the  JLP candidate was not elected as the councillor.

Mr. Montague’s comments came days after Mr. Warmington had instructed the Labour Minister to withhold hurricane recovery cheques until after the election.

The comments have led to criticism from the opposition. Director of Elections, Danville Walker also condemned the statements.

Watch the Junior Mayors of Jamaica discuss some of the most pressing community issues across the nation.

They recently attend a forum held at the Gleaner Company, during Youth Month in November.

What are your thoughts. Leave a comment below.

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EOJ on vote count…

Director of Elections Danville Walker reported that results are expected in the counting centres by 7:30 p.m., and election results for all divisions should be known by 10:30 p.m.

He also said that 90 per cent of the 6,376 polling stations opened at 7a.m. this morning. Although voting was slow except for the Braeton Division in Portmore, St. Catherine. The polls closed at 7p.m.

Mr. Walker also said he’s yet to recieve reports about the malfunctioning voter identification systems in some divisions today.

According to the EOJ, electoral officials and the police kept a close watch on some trouble spots where there were few incidents. These included the blocking of a road off Mountain View Avenue, St. Andrew.

Political Ombudsman, Bishop Herro Blair also reported that electors voted without problems in a number of polling divisions across the corporate area.

MAJ on media fees
Several radio and television member stations of the Media Association of Jamaica (MAJ), will not be carrying continuous results from the Local Government polls this evening.

The MAJ says this is due to the fee being imposed by the Electoral Office of Jamaica to receive the information.

The Association’s members which include the Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre, CVM Communications Group and the RJR Communications Group say they have been charged fees of between $150,000 and $400,000 per radio or television entity in order to receive the continuous results.

Media houses that have not agreed to pay the fees have been denied access to install equipment at the EOJ’s counting centre in New Kingston.

The MAJ has described the decision by the EOJ as a major blow to free access to public information and notes that it also has all the signs of a strike against press freedom.

It further notes that taxpayers, including the media and media workers’ funds are used to pay to run an election but additional charges are being levelled to receive reasonable updates on the results of the election.

In his response the Director of Elections Danville Walker said the fees were only being charged to access the results information online.

Mr. Walker added that members of the media would be able to access the results, which will be announced by the returning officers.

The JamaicaElections.com team have put together a “Did You Know ?” on who were councillors before becoming MPs.

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Candidates

• Joel Williams was councillor for the Tollgate Division. He currently, represents the Clarendon South West constituency.
• Pearnel Charles served two terms as parish councillor in the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC). He is presently the Minister of Labour and constituency representative for Clarendon North Central.
• Barrington Gray was councillor for Hopewell Division Hanover, and currently represents the Hanover Eastern constituency.
• Daryl Vaz served as councillor for the KSAC from 1990-1996. He currently represents the Portland Western constituency.
• Franklyn Witter was councillor for the Junction Division and currently represents the St. Elizabeth South East constituency.
• Lennon Richards served as caretaker councillor for Lluidas Vale Division, St. Catherine North West. He also served as constituency caretaker for St. Mary Central in 2006.
• Russell Hammond served as councillor for the Savanna La Mar Division and Westmoreland Parish Council. He currently represents the Westmoreland Central constituency.
• Robert ‘Bobby’ Montague served as councillor for the Carron Hall Division from 1990-2007. He is currently Mayor of Port Maria and represents the St. Mary Western constituency.
• Noel Donaldson served as councillor and Mayor of Montego Bay North East Division. He currently represents the St. James Southern constituency.
• Joyce Young served as councillor for the Duhaney Park Division in 2003. She is now the caretaker for the St. Andrew Western constituency.
• Sally Porteous served as councillor for the Mandeville Division in Central Manchester. She is the Deputy Mayor of Mandeville and represents the Manchester Central constituency.

Peoples’ National Party (PNP) Candidates

• Portia Simpson-Miller served as councillor for the Trench Town Division. She currently represents the St. Andrew South West constituency.
• Dean Peart served as councillor for the Spur Tree Division, and currently represents the Manchester North West constituency.
• Roger Clarke served as Mayor for the Black River and Balacalva Division. He currently represents the Westmoreland Central constituency.
• Robert ‘Bobby’ Pickersgill was councillor for the corporate area. He currently represents the St Catherine North West constituency.
• Colin Fagan served as councillor for Edgewater Division, and currently represents the South East St. Catherine constituency.
• Natalie Neita-Headley served as councillor for the Lauriston Divison, and currently represents East Central constituency.
• Luther Buchanan served as councillor for Leamington Division, and currently represents the Eastern Westermoreland constituency.

Jamaicans in various communities across the island share what their views, and expectations of parish councillors are JamaicaElections.com team.

Many Jamaicans in various communities across the island would like to know that their issues are being dealt with and who to contact in case of an emergency, they can depend on their local authorities.

The JamaicaElections.com team visited communities across the island and asked residents to share their views on the Local Government Elections.

Craig Carr – Teacher

• Q. What is local government election?
• A. This is an electoral process where candidates are selected as councillors to represent a community or division.
• Q. Who is the councillor for your division?
  A. Presently, I am not sure of the councillor, haven’t seen or heard of the individual.
• Q. What has the councillor done in your community?
  A. Three years ago the gullies and drains were cleaned.
• Q. What would you want to be done?
  A. Drains cleaned periodically, roads repaired and maintained to alleviate the flow of water settling. Completing the work started on the proposed secondary school, construction of primary schools, promotion of HEART programmes, and other skill training activities among the youths to empower themselves.
• Q. Will you be voting?
  A. No.

Nathan Clair – Photographer

• Q. What is local government election?
• A. Electing a suitable candidate to deal with internal matters affecting the community.
• Q. Who is the councillor for your division?
  A. Hazel Anderson.
• Q. What has the councillor done in your community?
  A. She has drains and gullies cleaned, road repairs and bushing.
• Q. What would you want to be done?
  A. To establish a recreational park for residents of the community, creating more skill centres for youth, building a shopping centre, and working on community development.
• Q. Will you be voting?
  A. Yes.

Leon Lindsay - Student

• Q. What is local government election?
• A. Selecting a group of persons to represent a community or local area.
• Q. Who is the councillor for your division?
  A. Not sure who the councillor is.
• Q. What has the councillor done in your community?
  A. I don’t see per se what he/she has done.
• Q. What would you want to be done?
  A. I would like to see more community centres being built, and mosquito breeding areas eradicated.
• Q. Will you be voting?
  A. No, I am underage.

Davel Johnson, 16

• Q. What is local government election?
• A. Election where you choose the mayor and who is in control of certain parishes.
• Q. Who is the councillor for your division?
  A. Don’t know
• Q. What has the councillor done in your community?
  A. Fix up the ball ground and the roads that’s all
• Q. What would you want to be done?
  A. I want them to fix the ball ground properly because the fences are down now. They need to cut down all the bushes.
• Q. Will you be voting?
  A. No.

Dwayne Lawrence, 25

• Q. What is local government election?
• A. For me it’s just a government in charge of roads and the clean up of the community.
• Q. Who is the councillor for your division?
  A. Mike Henry
• Q. What has the councillor done in your community?
  A. I am not seeing that much since lately. I’m not saying that he is not doing anything but most times I am not in the community.
• Q. What would you want to be done?
  A. Better water supply and better roads
• Q. Will you be voting?
  A. Already vote already, so I not voting again.

Arthur Dunkley

• Q. What is local government election?
• A. Roads and communication for people
• Q. Who is the councillor for your division?
  A. Uncle Mike (Mike Henry)
• Q. What has the councillor done in your community?
  A. Roads, treat the people good and he approaches them a lot.
• Q. What would you want to be done?
  A. We need some roads and more beneficence.
• Q. Will you be voting?
  A. Yes, I will be voting if I don’t go home before that.

Pauline Smith

• Q. What is local government election?
• A. Local Government is an election where you vote for the councillor for your area.
• Q. Who is the councillor for your division?
  A. I am not sure who my councillor is.
• Q. What would you want to be done?
  A. I am still not sure what the councillor has done in my community.
• Q. What would you want to be done?
  A. The roads need to be fixed
• Q. Will you be voting?
  A. If I get the chance to, I will vote.

Ask any Jamaican what the biggest problem in Jamaica is and 9 out of 10 times they will say CRIME. Feuding communities, usually separated by political allegiances, are unfortunately, a major contributor to the ever-increasing crime statistics. Countless lives have been lost in Southside and Telaviv, Kingston as a result of community feuds. With the recent shooting of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor Rosalie Hamilton in Southside, JamaicaElections.com visited Telaviv for their reactions on the incident.

Tense
Upon arriving in the area it was obvious that the community had seen better days. Going down Georges Lane, you could hardly see anyone outside, most of the people were indoors or in their yards. Entering one structure, which seemed to be the place with the most people on the lane, you could see the despair on some of the people’s faces. “Di war a go get hotter yah now inno,” said one concerned male in the yard.

“A so it go, gunman and gunman a war and innocent people get hurt in the crossfire,” said *Claire, a short, stout woman. “No shot never really directed to she, Rosie just deh di wrong place at di wrong time.”

The residents told JamaicaElections.com that the war between the two communities was not affiliated with politics. They told us that it has been like that ever since.“You done know a so it go, dem a Labourite and we a PNP, sometime it ago be political but no all di time,” said *Joe, a bystander who decided to join the discussions. *Joe also sought to give us a scenario on how youths from the communities who went to the same schools end up taking their friends life. “…You and a man go school when unnu a yute. Him come from South and you come from Telaviv. Unnu lef’ school and ting and him go back whey him come from and you go whey you come from. Something go down and di yute from South mother get shot, and dem say a Telaviv man do it, him go turn gunman and say him must kill a bwoy from Telaviv, when him come shoot up the place, guess who him kill, him best friend from Primary school wey no inna nutten…a no politricks do dat, a just so it go.”

One-sided Media
Inside a house in another yard, we met a group of guys watching television. After the necessary introductions JamaicaElections.com was invited in to sit and talk with them.

Most of the men were just concentrating on the football match on the television, except one. He wanted to voice his opinion on not only the shooting but also on the ‘one-sided media’ as he called it.

“Just because di woman (Rosalie Hamilton) get shot unnu come down yah, so what happen to di yute wey dead the week before last week and di woman wey get shot yesterday?” said *Bryan, a mechanic in the area. “How mi no see no media dem day deh when people a dead inna Telaviv? But now when councilor get shot it all deh pon front page, and she not even dead, di innocent yute dead and it not even mek di back page.” *Bryan also told us that the boy that had died was only sixteen-years-old and still going to school.

After hearing *Bryan say what was on his mind a few of the men in the room told us how things were going daily in the community. They told JamaicaElections.com that gunshots ring out every night, and that only Southside and Telaviv can stop the war, neither police nor politicians.
*Names changed upon request.
What do you think? Place your comment below.

12 students from across the island representing their parishes as Junior Mayors addressed the main issues affecting citizens in their community at a discussion forum held on Tuesday, November 27, at the Gleaner Company.

The students, who are actively, involved in co-curricular activities in schools and their communities addressed issues such as poor water supply, bad roads, streetlights, crime and violence, parenting and juvenille delinquency.

Poor roads and streetlights
The Junior Mayors called on the National Works Agency (NWA) to ensure that the roads were properly repaired and maintained, and programmes designed to produce these results developed.

Tennyson Watson, a student of Ascot High, representing Portmore Municipal, said “the issue of bad roads needed urgent attention”. According to Watson, “pre-patching the roads is not good enough, whatever the weather condition, wet or dry the roads should be built to withstand”.

He suggested that workers of the NWA should be trained like the overseas contractors to help with proper road repairs.

The St. Thomas representative, Tanya Morgan, of Seaforth High agreed with her colleague. She claimed roads in the parish that were badly damaged by Hurricane Dean and the November heavy rains needed urgent attention as some communities were to all intents and purposes cut-off.

On the subject of streetlights, Naudia Williams said the lack of lighting posed a threat to the person and property.

Drainage and solid waste
Trelawny and Portland were two of the parishes for which the issue of drainage and solid waste urgently needed to be addressed.

Monique Robb, a student of Westwood High, called for regular cleaning and maintenance of the drains. In addition she suggested the relevant authorities should consider the provision of dams as this would help to alleviate the problem of poor water supply in the parish.

Garbage disposal was a ‘burning’ issue for Shaneka Edwards, of Titchfield High. She wanted to see the Solid Waste organisation in the parish provide adequate containers for garbage disposal. According to Shaneka, “The garbage trucks can go into other areas of the community to minimise garbage overload”.

Greater councillor involvement
Turning their focus to community involvement, the Junior Mayors all agreed that community members are not adequately included in the decision making process.

The outspoken Tennyson of Ascot High, highlighted the importance of councillor’s involvement in their division, and suggests that they visit the communities and take time out to sit down with the residents and discuss their concerns.

Raquel Muir, of Manning High, added that the councillors should be ‘people persons’, that were involved at the grassroots level. “They should be involved in youth clubs, civic services, organizations that work with young people, so that the effect of their presence could be felt throughout the division,” she said.

Other issues
The desire for entertainers to use their talents to empower the youth was another issue discussed by the Junior Mayors. They felt that entertainers should use their music to encourage the youth to become leaders, and active participants in their communities.

“Entertainers need to educate the youths at the community level, give them a foundation of value, and start producing positive music with messages to empower young people,” said Naudia.

Kimberly had similar sentiments and added that “DJ’s should change their music, eliminate and not perpetuate violence,”.

The media
Mario Palmer, Brown’s Town High, called on the media to broadcast Local Government candidates within the divisions, to help build public awareness, about the role and functions of parish councillors.

The Junior Mayor participants were:

• Tennyson Watson, Ascot High School - Portmore Municipal Council
• Kimberly Mcleod, Clarendon College - Clarendon Parish Council
• Shaniek Allison, Mile Gully High School - Manchester Parish Council
• Eric T. McDonald, Munroe College - St. Elizabeth Parish Council
• Racquel Muir, Mannings High School - Westmoreland Parish Council
• Sadrina Johnson, Lucea Primary School - Hanover Parish Council
• Michael Nattoo, Cambridge High - St. James Parish council
• Monique Robb, Westwood High School - Trelawny Parish Council
• Mario Palmer, Brown’s Town High - St. Ann Parish Council
• Shaneka Edwards, Titchfield High School - Portland Parish Council
• Naudia Williams, Mary Mount High - St. Mary Parish Council
• Tanya Morgan, Seaforth High School - St. Thomas parish Council.

USEFUL FACT: How do you become a Junior Mayor?
Junior Mayors are selected annually during youth month in November. The selection process involves schools choosing a representative. Each participant has to make a ten-minute presentation on issues and concerns within their divisions which are judged by members of the community. The successful candidate becomes the Junior Mayor for the year.

Recently, the Honourable Robert Montague, State Minister with special responsibility for Local Government Reform endorsed a new initiative where each representative would establish a community project. Under this project each student is allotted $20,000 to assist with any community development initative they choose.

Have your say. Place your comment below.