I have been associated with elections for 50 years as a voter and a presiding officer. Try as I may, I cannot understand why the Jamaican system is so complicated. Please allow me to explain.

You go into the polling station, state your name and address. It is then checked by four of five officials with the names and addresses of all eligible to vote in that constituency. You are then given a ballot paper to make your choice. When this is done, it is folded and placed in a box.

At the end of the given voting time each box is sealed by the presiding officer. The only time your vote is handled by anybody else than yourself is at the count. If any seal is found to be broken prior to the count, then that box becomes invalid. Would someone please explain why you need a signature and the tearing of a flap, after reading the procedure I have described above?

- A.N. McLean, 2 Lawrence Ave., Kingston 8

A section of the community of Bonitto Crescent, particularly on Bonitto Drive, two miles from the town of Mandeville, is surrounded by dense vegetation. Over the years, the owners of these premises have not done any land clearing, making the environment unhealthy for habitation. The citizens' association made several representations to the parish council, but to no avail.

We are now requesting the health department if there is any way that they can help to ameliorate the problem as the area is a potential haven for wrongdoers. There is a huge unfinished building on one of the premises going over four years. I am appealing to the minister concerned to bring us some relief.