Reverification to take place before next national poll

Before electors cast their ballots in the next national polls, a reverified voters' list will be in place, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has said.

The parliamentary Opposition has accused the Government of reneging on its commitment to allocate funds in the Budget to carry out a reverification of the current voters' list.

In the 2017-2018 Estimates of Expenditure, the Government had set aside $700 million to start the reverification exercise. However, the amount was subsequently reallocated in the supplementary estimates to tackle national security issues.

"At the appropriate time, we will make allocations to the Electoral Office to ensure that the list that will be used in the next elections will be a list in which all stakeholders can have confidence. At this time, however, our priority is ensuring that our resources are aligned with the national priority,"Holness told The Gleaner in an interview at Jamaica House last week.

The Electoral Office of Jamaica had estimated, last year, that the full cost to produce a clean voters' list was in excess of $2 billion.