Guest speaker Audley Shaw (centre), minister of finance and the public service, speaks with Sandra Glasgow, CEO of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), and the organisation's president, Joseph Matalon, during the PSOJ's monthly Chairman's Club Forum at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston yesterday. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Freelance Photographer

Finance Minister Audley Shaw has warned that corruption has so pervaded the Jamaican economy it could stifle efforts to tackle the current economic crisis.

"Corruption in Jamaica is so bad it is indescribable. It permeates virtually every area of government," Shaw bemoaned as he addressed members of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) during the organisation's monthly Chairman's Club Forum, held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, yesterday.

"In my tax department, it is so bad that in some areas of the department, rogue elements have teamed up with rogue elements in the police force to rob the country of revenue," the finance minister added.

Registering stolen cars

According to Shaw, corrupt tax employees and police personnel register stolen motor vehicles and operate stolen-car rackets.

"It has reached a point where you come across incidents of crime and you wonder who do I report it to. That's a serious matter because if you pick up the phone and call any and anybody, you might be calling the man who is in charge of the motor-vehicle racket," Shaw said.

The finance minister urged the private-sector leaders to join the fight against corruption.

"For the public sector to be corrupt, the private sector is aiding and abetting that corruption and it is either that we are going to make a collective commitment ... to eliminate corruption or we are not," charged Shaw.

He pointed to other countries and international cities such as Medellin, Colombia, which have faced this corruption challenge and have managed to tame the beast.

Shaw further argued that if every sector of the society commits to dealing with corruption, Jamaica could be rid of the problem.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com