Gunmen traded fire in parts of the Mountain View area of the South East St. Andrew constituency yesterday, breaking the peace which existed in the community for almost two years.

At least one person was shot and injured, the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), the public relations arm of the police force, has confirmed. A resident, who spoke with The Gleaner last night, said there was a heavy police presence in the area and that the streets were empty.

Writing to Opposition

And as political tensions spread in a number of communities, including rural Jamaica, President of the People's National Party and Prime Minister, Portia Simspon Miller, said yesterday she would be writing Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, for a meeting to quell the growing unease.

She reported that party slogans were painted in front of the home of a PNP candidate in Chapelton, Clarendon. This comes in the wake of the Prime Minister's claims on Sunday that a political code of conduct had been breached in the Mountain View area of South East St. Andrew.

There were also reports of political upheavals in sections of Olympic Gardens, Kingston.

Mrs. Simspon Miller told journalists at a post-PNP annual conference press briefing yesterday at the party's headquarters on Old Hope Road that she would be proposing to the Opposition Leader that the two parties put together a team to discuss the problem.

Refrain from confrontation

She also mentioned another disturbing report which the police are currently investigating, but refused to give details as she felt this could trigger further conflict. The Prime Minister made another appeal to supporters of the two major political parties, urging them to refrain from confrontation.

"I am going to be coming down hard on the PNP and JLP if it happens (political violence) ...because we are not going to allow people to be attacked because of party politics," she said.

Meanwhile, Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair said his office had not received any complaints from the PNP that the Jamaica Labour Party had breached a peace agreement in Mountain View, St. Andrew. The Political Ombudsman said however, that he observed breaches in the code when he visited the community yesterday.