We give Angela Brown Burke, the chairman of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), the capital's local government, the benefit of the doubt.

The city's problems may be so complex and intractable that three months is insufficient time for us to see tangible results on her party's manifesto promises for the March 26 municipal elections. So, we wait.

There is, however, a small matter to which the KSAC can attend that should demand little effort and no cost to the KSAC, but can impact the appearance of the city and, potentially, the sense of unity in the country.

Like in most countries with vibrant democracies, candidates' billboards and banners, as well as party flags, are integral to electioneering in Jamaica. Plenty of these were put up during the local government campaign.

More than three months on, in many parts of the city and suburban and rural St Andrew, many of these remain. The anecdotal evidence of these suggests that the preponderance of billboards are for candidates of the People's National Party (PNP), who are the majority in the KSAC. They contribute to what Mr P.J. Patterson, a former prime minister and leader of the PNP, once called the "uglification of Jamaica".

Further, with the election over, the victor of a division becomes the local government representative not only of those electors who voted for him, or her, but the entire riding.

The continued presence of campaign paraphernalia, however, suggests that candidates remain in election mode, or as representatives with partisan dispensations. This is bad at any time. It is worse at this time, with Jamaica marking its 50th anniversary of Independence and facing many crises, a component of whose fixes include national unity.

Mayor Brown Burke should insist that candidates remove their campaign material, or be emboldened to treat such billboards as an offence under the anti-litter law.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.