More residents of the St. Catherine South East Constituency of Portmore believe the Portia Simpson Miller-led administration is doing a bad job than those who are of the view that the Government is doing a good job, according to a Bill Johnson poll commissioned by The Gleaner.

When Johnson and his team of researchers surveyed 480 residents of the mainly older communities of Portmore on March 11, 38 percent of respondents said that the Government was doing a bad job, while 32 per cent felt that the administration was doing a good job.

However, 22 per cent of the residents could not decide whether the Government was doing a good or bad job, while eight per cent did not know.

The margin of error is plus or minus five.

Preference for SImpson miller

Bu a greater percentage of respondents believed that the Government was doing a bad job, compared with those who thought they were doing well, 37 per cent of the people surveyed contend that Portia Simpson Miller would do a better job as prime minister than Bruce Golding. This is 11 percentage points more than the 26 per cent support the residents gave to the Opposition leader.

But the indifference factor should be underlined with 36 per cent of the people falling in the category undecided, while two per cent refused to offer a response.

Sixty nine per cent of the people interviewed say things in Jamaica are going in the wrong direction with just 17 per cent expressing a divergent view.

Crime and violence

The St. Catherine South East residents say crime and violence is the most pressing problem facing the country at this time. In fact, 67 per cent listed crime and violence while 26 per cent of those interviewed say the lack of jobs is the most pressing concern.

At the end of March, police statistics show that 365 persons were murdered, 46 more than those killed violently for the similar period last year or an increase of 15 per cent.

The St. Catherine South East residents say crime and violence is the most pressing problem facing the country at this time.