RESIDENTS OF Portmore, St. Catherine will vote, using two separate ballots, in the upcoming Local Government elections.

According to Keith Miller, consultant on Local Govern-ment, each voter in the newly-created municipality will cast one ballot for the mayor and another for the councillor for his respective divisions.

He told the Jamaica Information Service that these ballots will be placed in two separate boxes, counted and forwarded to the constituency counting centres.

He said the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) will appoint a special Returning Officer to oversee the elections in Portmore, separate from the constituency's Returning Officers.

"I anticipate that there will be heightened interest particularly in Portmore... and I think that in many other constituencies, the interest will be above previous experiences in Local Govern-ment," Mr. Miller said.

With municipality status, Portmore, which is a dormitory community covering south and southwest St. Catherine, will be able to elect its own mayor directly, as well as manage many of its local affairs, such as street-lighting and garbage collection. Portmore will be used as a pilot for three years after which the Government will review the model.