All is in place to accommodate the 454 candidates who will be nominated today across the island for the local government elections, which will be held on December 5.

Danville Walker, director of elections, said the Electoral Office of Jamaica was fully prepared.

"We are all set and ready to go," he told The Gleaner yesterday.

The nomination day centres are set to open promptly at 10:00 a.m. but candidates have until 2:00 p.m. to be nominated, said Walker. The candidates are also expected to pay $3,000 for their nomination fee.

Candidates will be vying for 227 seats in the parish councils and the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation, said Walker.

NDM involvement iffy

The last local government elections were held on June 19, 2003, and were contested by 495 candidates. The local polls were due from June 2006, but were delayed by 18 months by the previous PNP administration.

The ruling JLP and the Opposition People's National Party are expected to contest all 227 divisions, as well as the direct election of a mayor for the Portmore Municipal Council.

But the National Democratic Movement, which contested 14 divisions in 2003, is not likely to contest the polls this time around.

The JLP currently controls 11 parish councils, including the KSAC, while the PNP controls two, Portland and Westmoreland. The PNP also has the majority in the Portmore Municipal Council.