Edmond Campbell, Senior News Coordinator
THE ELECTORAL Office of Jamaica (EOJ) has been placed on high alert in preparation for parish council or general elections.
Director of Elections Danville Walker says the EOJ was about to mobilise the processes that it used in the 2002 General Election to marshal all the presiding officers, poll clerks and supervisors who are critical to the holding of a national vote.
As part of its plans, the EOJ has done tendering for companies to produce 20,000 T-shirts for election workers and, as of next week, a national programme of recruitment for election workers will begin.
"We are in that mode and starting next week you will see ads in the media and the press about the recruitment of workers and then we are hoping to get the workers together so we can begin training and have that pool so that, if an election is called, we can be as prepared as can be for the exercise," Mr. Walker said. He was speaking Wednesday, during a press conference at the Electoral Advisory Committee's (EAC) offices on Old Hope Road in St. Andrew.
He said the EOJ has sufficient personnel in all constituencies with the team of returning officers and their assistants who worked in the last election expected to offer their services in the upcoming election.
FUNDING
On the issue of funding for the upcoming election, Professor Errol Miller, chairman of the EAC, said the EOJ's budget for the current fiscal year did not have resources for an election.
According to Professor Miller $850 to $900 million was needed to run an election and pre-election preparations would require $113 million. The budget for the 2002 election was $750 million.
Former general secretary of the PNP and member of the EAC, Burchell Whiteman sought to allay fears that no funding would be in place for an election. "Given the premium that we put on the democratic process and the holding of national elections, whether for local government or for the Parliament, I am convinced that the money will be provided in a timely manner for the holding of elections," he said.
