THE UNITED Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is providing technical support for next Wednesday's general election, through a four-man team comprising an electoral legal expert and three international investigators.

The assistance follows a request by the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC) arising from the conduct of a needs assessment mission undertaken by the UN in June 2002. The mission highlighted the need for a small investigative unit to work with Jamaicans, as well as an electoral legal expert to work with the Political Ombudsman and the Director of Elections.

The investigators, who cumulatively have in excess of 75 years of policing experience, are being deployed to work alongside senior Jamaican investigators to identify and collect evidentiary material, as directed, to support the work of the Constituted Authority. The Constituted Authority has the power to void and re-run elections.

The team appointed by the UN is currently on the island to work with local counterparts on the $5 million project, which is being implemented by UNDP Jamaica and the UN Electoral Assistance Division of the Department of Political Affairs in New York. They add to the over 60 international observers in the country and will take instructions from the Constituted Authority.

They are legal expert Andrew Ladley, chief of staff of the Office of the Minister of Economic Development in the New Zealand Government and investigators Greg Turner and Michael Clement of the New Zealand police and Robert Grinstead (retired) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Mr. Ladley has expertise in international law, electoral law and international protection of human rights; Detective Senior Sergeant Turner, the lead investigator, has served the force for 25 years; Detective Senior Sergeant Clement also has 25 years and Mr Grinstead has over 27 years experience.

Resident Representative of the UNDP-Jamaica, Gillian Lindsay-Nanton, explained at a press conference at the UNDP on Tuesday that the project will reinforce the capacity of the Electoral Office of Jamaica, the Ombudsman and the Constituted Authority, all of which are involved in the conduct and organisation of the elections. It is hoped that the working arrangement will allow for skills transference and knowledge to support national capacity building.

"We're absolutely committed to preventing fraud in the electoral system," Professor Errol Miller, Chairman of the EAC said. "And we've gone to great lengths to prevent it, but just in case it happens we're putting in place the capacity to ferret it out ... this time it will be free and fair and run according to the law."

He said that Nomination Day went great, but subsequent flare-ups and the suggestion to ban motorcades in several areas will be extended to others if the situation continues.

"We hope that good sense will prevail on all sides," he said.