Edmond Campbell, News Coordinator

More Jamaicans are of the view that the Government is doing a good job compared with those who feel the current administration has performed poorly, according to the latest Gleaner-commissioned poll.

The actual findings of a Bill Johnson poll, which surveyed 1,008 eligible voters islandwide, revealed that 41 per cent of the sample said the Government was doing a good job, while 31 per cent claimed it was governing badly. The margin of error is plus or minus three per cent.

But 20 per cent of the sample said that the Government was neither doing a good nor bad job, while eight per cent did not have a definite view.

Comparing the May and January polls, Johnson's findings show a nine percentage point increase among Jamaicans who believe that policies were going in the right direction, while the pollster picked up a 14 percentage-point decline among those who said things were going in the wrong direction.

In May, 21 per cent of the sample interviewed said things were going in the right direction, compared with 12 per cent in January. However, 62 per cent of respondents argued that things were going in the wrong direction, a decline in comparison to the 76 per cent who expressed that opinion in January.

At the local level, persons were asked this question: "Generally speaking, do you think things are going in the right direction these days in the area you live in, or are they going in the wrong direction?"

Thirty-eight per cent said their community was heading in the right direction in contrast to 58 per cent who said the wrong direction.

Jobs featured high among local needs when persons were asked: "What would you say is the greatest need at this time in the area that you live in?"

In fact, 58 per cent of respondents pointed to jobs, a four percentage-point increase over the January survey, which showed 54 per cent who said jobs were the greatest need.

Poor road conditions and water problems were also cited among the pressing needs of communities islandwide. Sixteen per cent mentioned the need for better roads, while 12 per cent wanted their water woes to be eased.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com