A karate instructor and a former cricket star will face off against each other in the Southampton West constituency, where the issues of housing, youth and bus schedules figure highly on the agenda of constituents.

United Bermuda Party activist Al Wharton's attempt to win over voters will be met with a challenge from the Progressive Labour Party's Randy Horton, a Government minister and sporting hero whose name is well-known throughout the area.

The district, which runs from Luke's Pond Drive in the south to Patience Avenue in the north and covers the former baselands at Morgan's Point and Tudor Hill, is a middle-class, predominantly black area of 1,144 registered voters that is not densely populated.

“It is a good mix of people around here,” said Jonathan Suter, an 18-year-old college student who lives at Leacraft Hill Road. “There has been crime in the area but I wouldn't say its rampant. There are a lot of homeowners and quite a few retired people.”

Mr. Suter, for whom July 24 is the first election in which he will be able to vote, said: “I haven't met any of the candidates yet. I suppose I'll base my vote more on personality and I'd like to see what both of them are like when they are talking. A lot of people say the PLP has done everything wrong but are they really that much different from the UBP?”

“In the area of international business, that's been wonderful and the Rockaway ferry is very much appreciated by people around here. But then you have the racist overtures that have been made by some people in Government. That annoys me. When you're going to make stupid statements like that, think again and keep your mouth closed.”

Mr. Suter, who lives with his mother and two brothers, said one thing that would definitely help the area was an improved bus schedule along Middle Road to and from Hamilton in the evenings.

“They need to make the buses more frequent and to keep them going later on. There are just not enough.”

Some residents said they thought land at the former baselands in the area needed to be put to better use, for instance for housing or even just to provide Bermuda with some more areas of open space.

Another talking point was the amount of traffic that builds up around the junction of Middle Road and Rockaway Road.

Asked what he would like to see the next government's priorities be, a 50-year-old home owner who works in the construction industry said: “They need more youth centres, ones which are properly organised and chaperoned. There are a lot of groups that are formed but there seems to be a lack of centres where they can go.”

As to how he would be voting, the man said: “The economy is buoyant and you've got to give Government a passing grade on that. Other jurisdictions have had a contraction.

“I don't think any government can fulfil all of its the promises. They deserve another term. “