( l - r ) Seivwright, Jackson, Stanton, Allen

Western Bureau:

The absence of decisive leadership with the capacity to fully engage the populace is being blamed for the myriad of problems now facing western Jamaica and hampering the region's ability to realise its fullest potential for growth and development.

In a stinging critique of the existing leadership structure in the west, social activist and head of COMAND (Community Organisation for Management and Sustainable Development), O'Dave Allen, yesterday told a Gleaner Editors' Forum at the company's office in Montego Bay, St James, that the leadership that now exists is only concerned about serving its own self-interest and not the greater good.

"The ruling class we used to look to for leadership has collapsed," stated Allen. "We have since been captured by a clique acting in its own self-interest and without regard for the vast majority of the people."

Bringing order to the city

In supporting Allen's assertion, Dr Lee Bailey, chairman of the Western Shipping Association and a former president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, pointed to the shelving of the Greater Montego Bay Redevelopment Plan. The plan was aimed at bringing order to the city and addressing some of the social ills that now exist.

"It was a plan that called for the participation of all the people, but when it got to a stage it became a very nervous situation - in fact, it never got there," bemoaned Bailey. "This is why I am of the view that leadership must be in the best interest of the majority."

In expanding on the general failure of leadership and the destabilising effect it is having on society, Deputy Superintendent of Police Paul Stanton, head of community safety and security in Area One, said the quest for political expediency on the part of some of the nation's leaders is partly to be blamed.

"Leadership for political expediency has left us where we are," Stanton said. "That type of leadership must change if we are to go forward."

Weighing in on the issue, businessman Dennis Seivwright, president of the Trelawny Chamber of Commerce, said that in Jamaica's prevailing climate of tough economic times, strong, transparent and decisive leadership devoid of political biases is urgently needed.

Hard but necessary decisions

"We need leaders who will make non-political decisions," declared Seivwright. "Jamaica is in a crisis but I know people will support hard but necessary decisions."

However, in advocating a united approach to dealing with the leadership crisis, the Reverend Everton Jackson, pastor of Montego Bay's Calvary Baptist Church, suggested that a coalition of leadership might be the best approach.

"We need a coalition of leadership that involves the civic community, the church community, the political community and all the other stakeholders," said Jackson. "In addressing the issue of development, it should not only be from the standpoint of economics but should have a proper balance between the economic and the social."

Despite being the gateway to Jamaica's tourism, Montego Bay is steadily becoming a source of concern, if not embarrassment. The city has been recording in excess of 100 murders every year since 2005, with 214 recorded to date this year. There are some 19 unplanned communities with a myriad of social problems, and the infamous lotto scam, which is threatening to shut down the local information technology sector.

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com