THE police and the military had to be called into Maverley, St Andrew, on Monday to prevent a stand-off from escalating between supporters of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP), outside a polling station during the local government elections in the Hughenden Division.

A man wearing an orange T-shirt — the colour associated with PNP — was heard appealing to members of the police force and military to “come quickly” to quell a situation that was shaping up to become confrontational at a polling station at Maverley Primary and Junior High School.

“You guys need to come on the outside like right now. The JLP supporters just arrived and there is going to be problems. As they came they started videotaping the PNP supporters and a push intimidation. Maybe when they see you, that could create a buffer,” the man told members of the security forces.

The soldiers and police quickly positioned themselves strategically to create a buffer outside the polling station between the supporters of the two political parties.

From as early as 7:00 am, when the polls opened, until it closed at 5:00 pm the number of people wearing orange-coloured shirts and who streamed in and out of the polling station at the school in Maverley far outnumbered the people wearing green shirts — the colour associated with the JLP.

One woman remarked that, “Most a dem people deh inna green not even come from Maverley. They have no vote.”

An incident which occurred prior to her speaking to the Jamaica Observer seemed to almost corroborate what the woman claimed.

The Observer had witnessed a stream of both men and women dressed in green clothing march onto the primary school compound where the polling station was located. However, the police rounded up the majority of the members from that group and ushered them off the compound because only a handful of them came to vote.

Activities at and around the other polling stations within the Hughenden Division did not buzz with the same excitement as seen in Maverley, as people voted quietly.

At Maverley Gospel Hall on Molynes Road, another polling station in the division, two female residents of Hughenden each held up an index finger covered in ink as proof they had voted.

One of the women said it was time for a change in leadership, although she was shy in categorically stating who she was supporting.

“We want a change. The road and water are my issues in Hughenden; sometimes I have no water. There are some very big potholes in the roads,” she said.

The other woman said she did not have an issue with water, however she said the roads were deplorable.

At Pembroke Hall High School in the division voting activities went smoothly. Such was also the case at Pembroke Hall Community Centre.