KINGSTON – The Police High Command said that there was no major disruption during yesterday’s General Election.
According to the police, aside from a number of skirmishes, there was no major development that warranted any emergency response.
“We had reports of a number of skirmishes, reports of intimidation and some other minor incidents [but] we had no major incidents which required any elevated response,” Clifford Blake, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in charge of operations, told the Jamaica Observer last night.
DCP Blake said that the police received reports of intimidation in Clarendon and at the polling stations on Mountain View Avenue in the constituency of Kingston Eastern where the incumbent Phillip Paulwell of the People’s National Party trounced Headley Wilson of the the Jamaica Labour Party.
Meanwhile, the police said that they were investigating the cause of a fire at the Knockalva Basic School building where several polling stations were based in the Hanover Eastern constituency.
Reports are that at about 2:00 am, the fire department was called in after smoke was seen coming from the building. The blaze was later extinguished.
The police credited the high level of voter maturity and their intense preparation for keeping the day violence free.
Several people with whom the Observer spoke were also pleased with the level of maturity among voters.
“Right now all of us go out to vote, each hoping for the best result and that the party of their choice will win. But at the end of the day we are all one people,” said Marcia Brown as she went about her business in Rema in the constituency of St Andrew Southern, which was won by the PNP’s Dr Omar Davies.
Sisters Melissa and Nickeisha Dawson of Hanna Town also shared similar sentiments.
The two sisters said they share the same interests and dislikes on a number of issues, but differ when it comes to politics.
“She is a PNP [supporter] and me is a Labourite (JLP supporter),” said Melissa.
The two said they were determined not to allow political differences to erode the bond that they share.
“Wi born come see this and we not going let politics destroy what we have,” the 29-year-old Nickeisha told the Observer. (Jamaica Observer)
