Devon Evans, Gleaner Writer

OCHO RIOS, St. Ann:

The People's National Party's (PNP) North East St. Ann constituency office in the parish capital was firebombed yesterday morning, destroying a section of its offices, a party representative said.

PNP caretaker/candidate for the constituency, Oswest Senior-Smith, has labelled the incident an act of political intimidation.

The police reported that the fire, which started shortly after 4:00 yesterday morning, was confined to a container on the premises and was extinguished by one unit from the St. Ann's Bay Fire Station.

Senior-Smith told The Gleaner that the container was part of the office structure and was used to store constituency records and some items of furniture, all of which were destroyed. It is also understood that welding equipment were also destroyed.

"Yesterday (June 23), I signed the Political Code of Conduct and hours later my office was attacked."

While not making direct allegations, Senior-Smith, an attorney-at-law, claimed that two months ago a supporter of the Jamaica Labour Party left a threatening message on the telephone at his law office, shortly after the PNP staged a mass meeting in Mile End.

He assured however, that the PNP campaign team will not be daunted. "We will not be intimidated. We will not be running scared from those tactics."

Both police and firefighting personnel suspect arson as the cause of the fire.