THE police reported no violent incidents despite the thousands of supporters of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP) who converged on Port Antonio in Portland Eastern for Nomination Day, yesterday.

From early morning yesterday scores of supporters of the PNP’s Damion Crawford and the JLP’s Ann Marie Vaz, many from outside the parish, started making their way into the seaside town.

But the security forces were ready for them with strategically placed barricades and vital traffic changes already in place.

Shortly after midday, with the two candidates duly nominated and respective teams out on motorcades, tours and meetings, head of the Portland Police Division, Superintendent Duane Wellington, described the process as incident-free.

“We came out early and we got assistance from Kingston,” said Wellington as he pointed to the police personnel from other divisions and members of the Jamaica Defence Force who were out in their numbers.

“As a result we have been doing all the security tasks and both parties have cooperated with us,” added Wellington.

With reports of congestion and traffic snarls in the heart of Port Antonio, Wellington argued that this was to be expected based on the number of people who had converged on the town.

“It is a small space and there was a lot of traffic and people but it was kept moving. I am satisfied, given the layout of the town,” declared Wellington.

The superintendent added that with Nomination Day now out of the way, the police have started to make plans to minimise incidents during the period of campaigning with a full security plan for the April 4 by-election.