Girl With a Purpose (GWAP)

Jamaican Elections: Make Your Vote Count!

Yes, friends, Jamaicans are anxiously awaiting Election Day: Monday, September 3, 2007!

We at Girl With a Purpose Blog, know that there will be some first-time voters and other voters who haven't voted in a long time, voting on Election Day.

We know that some of you voters will have concerns, re how to vote.

As such, we have provided the following instructions re how to vote on Election Day.

These are as follows:

Instructions for Voting on Election Day

1) You can only vote in the constituency in which you were registered to vote, so please go to that constituency office to vote :).

[If your constituency office (polling station) was badly damaged by the hurricane (which is true for about 8 polling stations), you should now be aware of the new location, nearby.

If you're not, don't worry, you can call the Electoral Office  of Jamaica, at 1-888-991-VOTE (8683) OR 876-922-0425-9, to find out.

For those constituency offices that are functional (98%), you can call your constituency office or the Electoral Office of Jamaica at the numbers above, to find out where it's located.]

Please see a listing of constituency offices across the island and their corresponding phone numbers, here!

(Opening hours for constituency offices should be from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.)

2) You should carry the following item to the constituency office (polling station):

a) Your Voter's ID

b) If you don't have your Voter's ID, then take a valid ID (driver's license, passport) in order to prove that  you are who you say you are

c) If you don't have either, then you will be finger-printed and then asked a few questions to verify that you are who you say you are.

(The reason why you are finger-printed is given by the Electoral Office of Jamaica website as follows:

"The Electoral Office of Jamaica has implemented the Electronic Voter Identification and Ballot Issuing System (EVIBIS). With EVIBIS, registered electors will be identified and verified at the polling station by using their fingerprints after which the system will issue authenticated ballots for voting. The elector will then proceed as before to mark the "X" with a pencil on the paper ballot issued.")

3) You will then be given a paper (called a ballot) that will contain the names of the candidates offering themselves up for election in the constituency in which you are registered. To the right of each candidate's name, will be the symbol of his/her party.

If there is no symbol, then just put your "X" in the box indicated, to the right of the candidate's name.

4) The polling supervisor (officially referred to as the presiding officer) will give you instructions on how to fill-out the ballot

(The instructions should also be on the ballot.)

Ensure that you understand the instructions given by the presiding officer.

If you do not, don't be shy to ask him/her to repeat,ok?

You will be instructed to go behind a screened area where you can fill-out the ballot in private.

5) Using the pencil provided, fill-out the ballot by putting an "X", not a tick, beside the symbol representing your candidate of choice, in the box provided.

If you use a pen, this will make your vote invalid!!!

Mark your X clearly.

6) You will then return the folded ballot to the presiding officer, who will, before you, put the folded ballot in a secure ballot box provided by the EOJ.

7) You will then be asked to dip your right index finger in the ink provided. (This ink is not easily washed off and ensures that each voter will vote only once for the day.)

You will be given tissue to wipe the excess ink off your finger.

8) Please leave the polling station when you're through - do not linger outside.

Hope this helps!

Gillian

Sources include:

1) Electoral Office of Jamaica Website

2) Article, "Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) reports 72% turn-out on Tuesday", Jamaica Gleaner, August 30,2007

Jamaica's Hurricane Relief Efforts Underway,Slowly But Surely

Prime Minister (PM) Portia Simpson-Miller gave the following update,to the nation, tonight, re the hurricane Dean relief efforts:

On Monday, August 27:

19,000 cheques, worth JMD $2,000 each, were dispatched to the beneficiaries of  PATH, in the following parishes: Kingston, St. Ann and Portland. (Based on what the PM told us on August 22,2007, 71,000 more cheques are to be distributed.)

(PATH is the Government of Jamaica's Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education, which seeks to give these services to the needy for free or at a highly reduced cost.)

To date:

• 22,000 cheques, worth JMD $5,000 each, have been dispatched to 22,000 NIS pensioners in the parishes of Kingston, St.Ann and St. Thomas. 11,000 more of these cheques will reach post offices in Portland, St. Mary and St. Ann, by this weekend. (This would leave 47,000 more cheques to  be distributed, based on what the PM told us on August 22.)


• 700 tons of fertilizer were handed over to the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) and Rural Agricultural Development Agency (RADA) for farmers
  


• JMD $10 million is ready for disbursement to Fisherfolk in Old Harbour Bay, whose livelihood was destroyed by the hurricane


• 15,000 food packages for the needy have been distributed through ODPEM and various Church Organizations.


• 85% of Jamaica Public Service(JPS) customers now have electricity


• Over 90% of National Water Commission (NWC) customers now have water


• The National Works Agency has cleared most  of the main and Parish Council roads.


• Aid is still coming in from international organizations


• Two large donations by the private sector were highlighted (one for USD $1 million and another for JMD $15.6 million), but what the PM failed to mention were the numerous other private sector companies and non-governmental agencies who have given volunteers, time, effort, cash, goods and kind, to help with relief efforts.

The PM must be credited for attempting to live up to her promises made on August 22. Let's hope that the relief efforts will really get to those who need it and on a timely basis.

From what we've been hearing from those affected by Hurricane Dean, there have been a lot of promises made to them, lots of their names collected to receive help, but it has been slow in actually reaching them.

Some victims from hurricane Ivan in 2004, are still yet to receive help.

Some people are even collecting goods, given in aid and selling them...oh how enterprising some of us Jamaicans can be....

Gillian

Sources Include:

1) CVM Television, August 29, 2007.

2) Power 106 Radio, August 27-29,2007.

Jamaica After Hurricane Dean - Cleanup Exercises and a Constitutional Crisis Averted!

  Jamaica 
  Originally uploaded by www.steveconover.info

Yes, friends, hurricane Dean has come and gone!

But we just have to Big Up!!! (give thanks and praise to) Almighty God for protecting us and our island during this hurricane.

We also thank Him that we only had 4 deaths of 2.7 million people and that although 35% of our island is severely affected... He is enabling everyone to get back to normalcy...even though the recovery rate for some of us may be slower than others!

While the Southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St.Elizabeth and the Eastern parishes of Kingston & St. Andrew,  St. Thomas, and Portland were the most severely
affected, Northern parishes and hence the North Coast, barely felt the effects of hurricane Dean.
(Jamaica has 14 parishes).

Please see the following map of Jamaica, showing these parishes, here.

Most of Kingston and St. Andrew should receive electricity by today. While the Southern and other Eastern parishes that were most severely affected, will receive same in a few weeks time.

At present, 5,000 persons are still in shelters. (Over 200 shelters were in place across the island, during the hurricane. Please note that this is a correction to the number (21) mentioned in the previous post "Eye of Hurricane Dean Moves Slightly South".)

Cleaning-up exercises continue, but it may take 3-4 weeks before the entire island of Jamaica has electricity and water.

A JMD $420 million Relief package has been promised from the USA, Trinidad & Tobago, Spain, Brazil and Venezuela.

And the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) has promised JMD $905 million in hurricane relief for Jamaicans:

This includes JMD $100 million in free fertilizer for farmers, JMD $225 million assistance to the agricultural sector, JMD $5,000 to each of the 80,000 pensioners (JMD $400 million) under the National Insurance Scheme and a one-off payment of JMD $2,000 (each) to the over 90,000 persons registered under the PATH (JMD $180 million).

(PATH is the GOJ's Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education, which seeks to give these services to the needy for free or at a highly reduced cost.)

Well Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, imposed a State of Public Emergency (SOPE) on Jamaicans - where our constitutional rights (including human rights) as citizens were withdrawn and we were a police state, from Sunday, August 19, to yesterday, August 24,2007, when it was eventually withdrawn by the Prime Minister.

Under the SOPE:

1) Jamaican citizens could be imprisoned for no reason and would not have the opportunity to appeal.

2) Media personnel who published/aired any information that could be seen to incite opposition to the government, could be imprisoned, without the right to appeal.

3) Should a flyer or a brochure be found in a Jamaican's house and be perceived to be anti-government, the owner and occupants of the house could be imprisoned, without the right to appeal.

4) A Jamaican citizen hearing another, speaking against the government, could report this to a fireman, who could throw this person in prison. (Yes, friends, even firemen were given rights to arrest fellow Jamaicans).

Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller claims that the SOPE was imposed to protect human rights and life during and after the hurricane, and to prevent looting.

(We only had three cases of looting and the police had already declared the areas where this took place and the business districts across the island, to be under curfew, which would have prevented further looting.)

Additionally, she could have limited the SOPE to the areas where there were complaints, but she chose not to.

Memories of 1976, when a State of Emergency was imposed on Jamaica by then Prime Minister Michael Manley, and where several members of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party, were thrown in prison, were rife in older Jamaican's minds (over the age of 40) and many complained bitterly on talk shows during the week.

Additionally, constitutional fumbling  was the norm for four days: Monday, August 20 - Thursday, August 23,2007:

Monday August 20:

1) State of Public Emergency (SOPE) is not proclaimed in writing and no regulations (which would detail what could or could not be done under the SOPE) are published in the Jamaica Printing Services Gazette, as required for it to be constitutionally legal.

2) The Electoral Advisory Committee (they protect the electoral process from the immediate direction, influence and control of the Government, which may influence its functioning to the detriment of persons with opposing views who may wish to participate in the process) has advised the Governor General of Jamaica, Professor Kenneth Hall, to postpone the General elections for a week (to September 3), due to the passage of hurricane Dean, and the ensuing lack of electricity at polling stations and across the island, which would hinder the process of free and fair elections.

Tuesday, August 21- Wednesday, August 22:

Proposed election date reviewed by the Governor General and his Privy Council [the lawyers who are Queens Counsellors(QCs) on island and especially trained in constitutional law] but one of the QCs point out that constitutionally, this review should be done by the Cabinet (14 members of Parliament who are from the ruling government) and not the QCs.

Wednesday, August 22:

Prime Minister(PM) Portia Simpson-Miller addresses the nation, 2 hours later than scheduled: Speaks about relief efforts, but makes no mention of whether or not elections have been postponed.

Wednesday, August 22 - Thursday, August 23:

1)We hear of a rift in Cabinet, between those who want elections to be held on September 3, and PM
Simpson-Miller and a few other Cabinet members who want elections postponed to 1-3 months into the future.

2) Former Finance Minister Omar Davies, flatly denies claims, on Nationwide Radio.

Friday, August 24:

1) The new election date is set for September 3, 2007. Voting for the police and electoral workers is set for August 28,2007. Thus averting a constitutional crisis that would have arisen, should no word re the postponement of elections be given by the Cabinet, on the only business day prior to when elections should have originally been held - August 28, 2007.

2) The State of Public Emergency is revoked by PM Simpson-Miller.

======================

Well, that's the week that was in Jamaica.  Hope you found it interesting reading.

Please feel free to leave your comments, below.

Will continue to keep you updated.

Gillian

Sources Include:

1) Nationwide Radio, August 19 - 24, 2007

2) Power 106 Radio, August 19 -24, 2007

3) "Editorial - Lift the State of Emergency  now", Jamaica Gleaner, August 21,2007

4) "Editorial - End that State of Public Emergency now,", Jamaica Observer, August 21,2007

5) Article, "US, T&T give funds for recovery effort", Jamaica Gleaner, August 22, 2007

6) Press Release, "Statement from Jamaica's Prime Minister After Hurricane Dean", by SC Admin, CaribbeanPressReleases.com, August 23,2007

7) Article, "Three-month break for NHT mortgagors", Jamaica Gleaner, August 23, 2007

Eye of Hurricane Dean Moves Slightly South!

Jamaica is still on a hurricane warning.

Dean is still a category 4 hurricane and further strengthening is expected, as it moves across the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea.

According to The National Meteorological Service of Jamaica (National Met Service) and The Weather Channel:

"As of 7am (Eastern time), the centre of Hurricane Dean was located near 16.8 degrees North, 74.3 degrees West, which is about 225 km (140 miles) East-Southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.

Maximum sustained winds are near 233 km (145 miles) per hour. Dean is moving to the West-Northwest near 29 km (18 miles) per hour.

The outer periphery of Dean is impacting the southern coast of the island of Hispaniola (the island on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located) and Puerto Rico, but Dean will more forcibly impact Jamaica and the Cayman Islands Sunday morning into Monday. Dean could be the strongest hurricane to strike Jamaica since 1950's."

Dean is due to hit Jamaica at about  2:00 p.m. this afternoon. It will follow a path close to the south of the island.

Dean spans about 329 km (205 miles) wide. (This means that Jamaica will be affected by strong gale-force winds, even though the eye of Dean is projected to move slightly south of the island.)

We are currently being affected by the outer bands of Dean,and we've been having moderate rain and slight breezes since 8:00 p.m. last night.

Please click The Weather Channel link, here, to get an up-to-the-hour projected track for Hurricane Dean. (You have to refresh your browser for this to happen, though.)

You can also check the Bulletins at the National Met Service, online, here - the next one will be posted at 11:00 a.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time).

Jamaicans are still praying that we will be spared from the worst.  But we have also prepared to meet Dean.

Electricity which was supposed to have been shut down at 10:00 a.m this morning will be shut down later and the water supply will be shut down, soon after that. (This is to spare the equipment from damage.)

Also, in the case of Jamaica Public Service (JPS): electricity, is also being shut down to prevent electricity from being in lines that will  be downed by the hurricane - that could cause injury and loss of life.

Twenty-one (21) emergency shelters are up and running across the island, for those who need to be evacuated.

For those with an emergency in Jamaica, the Office of Disaster Preparedness (ODPEM), can be contacted at phone nos. 876-928-51111-4.

Sources Include:

1) Projected Path of Hurricane Dean,The Weather Channel

2) Bulletin No. 14, August 19, National Meteorological Service of Jamaica

3) Power 106 News Bulletin at 8:45 a.m.

4) Television Jamaica (TVJ)

Gillian

Jamaica Braces For Hurricane Dean!

Jamaica is now on hurricane watch.

After ravaging St.  Lucia, Dominica, Martinique, St.Kitts and Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles, Hurricane Dean should either hit Jamaica, or move very close to the island, within 34 hours (Sunday morning.)

Dean is currently a category 4 hurricane, packing winds of up to 215 km (133 miles) per hour and is moving westwards, in the Caribbean Sea, at a rate of 35 km (21 miles) per hour.

The latest figures put Dean at latitude 14.9 N and longitude 65.1W  or 1,290km (800 miles) East South East (ESE) of Jamaica.

It spans about 235 km (146 miles) wide. (This means that Jamaica will be affected by strong gale-force winds, even if Dean moves to the north or south of the island.)

Please click The Weather Channel link, here, to get an up-to-the-hour projected track for Hurricane Dean. (You have to refresh your browser for this to happen, though.)

All weather models forecast that Jamaica is directly in Dean's path.

All political campaigning has been halted until after the hurricane has passed.

But depending on the level of devastation that Dean leaves in its wake, we will not know whether or not the general elections for August 27, will be postponed, until next week.

Jamaicans are praying that we will be spared from the worst.  But we are also preparing to meet Dean.

Battening down will start in earnest tomorrow, and supermarkets were packed today with shoppers getting last-minute food items and necessities (e.g. matches, lanterns, flashlights) to prepare for the hurricane.

Sources Include:

1) Projected Path of Hurricane Dean,The Weather Channel

2) Television Jamaica (TVJ)'s 7:00 p.m. Nightly News, August 17, 2007

3) CVM TV News Watch 8:00 p.m., August 17,2007

Gillian