The Editor, Sir:

The new Bruce Golding-led administration is facing catas-trophic increases in oil prices, which are driven by external forces; escalating food prices, partly to be blamed on bio-food; and, a debilitating crime problem that escalated the minute they took office.

The new administration has also inherited a national airline that continues to lose money, but which can be turned around. We are also facing other loss-making entities, such as the Jamaica Urban Transport Company and the National Solid Waste Management Authority.

Great leadership

These situations present an opportunity for great leadership. All great leaders need great opponents in order to define them. Mr Nelson Mandela needed DeKlerk,Winston Churchill needed Adolph Hitler, and Ronald Reagan needed Boris Yeltsin.

The levels to which leaders must rise should not be defined by the depths to which their opponents might fall. Both Government and Opposition must display a level of competence and sophistication in order to lift us out of our dilemma. So far, we have replaced corruption with incompetence. The undeniable fact is that where incompetence resides, corruption soon follows.

I am, etc.,

MARK CLARKE.

mark_clarke9@yahoo.com

Siloah PO St Elizabeth

Via Go-Jamaica