There is much more to this Caribbean Community state than its popular reputation as a major tourist resort. Or, on the debit side, its undesirable negative profile of a Caribbean nation with a dubious record as the so-called "crime capital" of the Western Hemisphere, if not the world, on a per capita basis.

But conflicting images are not a peculiarity of Jamaica which, for all the heavy burden placed upon it by drug-related crimes and economic challenges, is a Caribbean state that has also distinguished itself by its efforts to improve the quality of governance as it strives to broaden democratic traditions.

For instance, in addition to having a functioning Public Information Act, it has opened up the meetings of its Public Accounts Committee and other parliamentary committees to media reporting and analyses.

The Jamaica celebrating its 40th freedom birthday, is a Caribbean island that is also known for its pot-pourri of cultural attractions, the "land of Bob Marley's reggae" and the more recent pulsating and controversial "dancehall" music that has often provoked protests over an expletives syndrome from which, encouragingly, entertainers are now moving away.

This native land of the internationally famous visionary, Marcus Garvey, the "Black Moses", one of the country's National Heroes, is often the object of negative publicity.

This image has resulted largely from the alarming level of murders and criminal violence, not unrelated to its unflattering fame as a significant transshipment centre for narco-trafficking, marijuana and cocaine, to Europe and North America.

But behind today's negative headlines, resides an inspiring history of Jamaican militancy -- some say aggressiveness -- that had charted a course for fair and respectful treatment of all West Indians, as well as other non-white immigrants, who chose, since the 1960s, to seek a new life in the former colonial power, Britain.

This Jamaican militancy, that paved a better way for other coloured immigrants into the United Kingdom -- currently grappling with charges of racism against Blacks by its Police Force -- can perhaps be understood better from the body of early rich West Indian literary works to be found in any library of repute.

Works that deal with the historical struggles of the "Maroon", to Garvey's "Back-to-Africa-Movement"; the positive contributions of the Rastafarian community, right up to Philip Sherlock's seminal, "The Story of the Jamaican People".

The Jamaica now being pushed further into an election mood, is also viewed from various perspectives, based on films like "The Harder They Come" with Jimmy Cliff, to the more recent and complimentary "How Stella Got Back Her Groove", featuring Whoopi Goldberg and Angela Basset.

This is the Jamaica that is also held responsible by critics for breaking up the short-lived West Indies Federation that was put together by Britain in 1958 but collapsed in 1962, following a majority yes-vote referendum to leave the Federation.

It then went on, within months, to become the first independent nation of what is today the CARICOM region, followed by Trinidad and Tobago's independence on August 31 of the same year.

It is the Jamaica where there have already been some 531 murders for the year by the end of last month, largely related to the frightening "drug culture", spawned by the drug lords operating out of depressed inner city communities and elsewhere. Among those killed were ten policemen.

Worried over the record number of murders in any one year -- some 1,131 in 2001 -- and conscious of the influence-peddling of drug barons and gun-runners, the major political parties, the incumbent People's National Party (PNP) of Prime Minister P. J. Patterson, and the Jamaica Labour Party of Edward Seaga, have signed an historic document for a shared commitment to combat crime at all levels of the society.

The Patterson-Seaga accord, on behalf of their parties, coincided with their signing of a separate agreement on a revised Code of Conduct for the forthcoming general election. The Code requires candidates to confirm to good practices, steer clear of illegal funding, or in any way contribute to political violence in a society known for its high incidence of killings and criminal violence during elections starting in the decade of the late 1970s.

One of the big issues for the election campaign, involving elements within the security forces and politicians, would undoubtedly be "corruption", given the mounting allegations that have led to both the PNP and the JLP to be more circumspect in the screening of potential candidates for the 60-member House of Representatives.

The opinion polls have pointed to a very close race between the PNP and JLP that have dominated the country's political life even before the dawn of independence with its first Prime Minister being the flamboyant and heroic figure of organised labour, Sir Alexander Bustamante.

Patterson, a lawyer, who succeeded the late charismatic Prime Minister Michael Manley -- best remembered for his controversial experiment with "democratic socialism", and as an articulate spokesman on behalf of the Caribbean -- remains confident that his PNP will create history at the polls with an unprecedented fourth term.

Equally confident that "now is JLP time" to end a dozen years in the wilderness of opposition politics, is Seaga. A former Prime Minister, he has the reputation of being an astute fiscal manager.

But his commitment towards regional economic integration, as characterised by the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), is often challenged by his detractors and reportedly not as strong as that of Patterson's.

For the first time in Jamaica's modern history since the introduction of adult suffrage some half a century ago, the PNP, under Patterson's leadership, succeeded in December 1997 in breaking a traditional two-term syndrome in government for either the JLP or his party. The big question is whether Seaga's JLP can now succeed in stopping a fourth term for the PNP.