PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Milton Samuda says Jamaica is facing a leadership crisis.

He contended that part of the reason for the country's woes was a "chronic absence of leadership, integrity and transparency at all levels".

"We now endure a government administration strangled by bureaucracy and riddled with corruption, which clogs the wheels of business at almost every turn," he said.

The JCC president was speaking on Wednesday at the International Project Management Day hosted by the local arm of the Project Management Institute at the Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston.

Samuda likened the island's murder rate to that of "a country in civil war", pointing out that at the end of September, 1,198 persons had been killed.

trauma cases

Samuda told the gathering that 40 per cent of the recurrent hospital budget of the Ministry of Health had been spent to treat cases of trauma directly related to crime.

"We have free health care, but have postponed critical inter-ventions because suppliers have not been paid for even more critical drugs," he asserted.

At the same time, Samuda described the present education system as "underfunded and unresponsive."

He said the system was not geared towards "enhancing our competitive advantages or supporting future thrusts towards productivity and export".

Commenting on corruption, the JCC head said the country was "ranked 96 out of 180 countries with a score of 3.2 out of 10 on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index 2008".

While noting that the recovery goal for Jamaica had to be redefined in the face of globalisation and recession, he implored the gathering to become active.

"I challenge you to bring your skills of planning, executing, monitoring and delivering. Your skills are sorely needed at this time of crisis if Jamaica is to tackle its many problems and overcome its equally many challenges," Samuda said.