NEW YORK: Grenada’s Consul General here is being recalled to St George’s in controversial circumstances. Janice Celestine, who has headed the island’s consulate here for almost a decade, has been told she has to return home effective November 1. She was given the 11-day notice Wednesday. Embassy sources say Celestine, a career diplomat, is to be replaced by Allen McGuire, a senior member of the ruling New National Party. McGuire’s last government appointment was as Manager of the National Water and Sewage Authority in Grenada, before protesting workers fed-up with his style of management, forced government to send him on leave. McGuire is already in New York sources say. No reason has officially been given for the recall of Celestine, but there is widespread speculation both among diplomatic sources and the Grenadian community here that the Foreign Affairs Department might have been upset with her role in spearheading the island’s disaster relief effort in the North America. Celestine has been at the forefront of mobilizing the Grenadian community to raise money for the relief effort at home following the devastation by Hurricane Ivan. She was instrumental in setting up a broad-based committee called the Grenada Disaster Relief Committee and has been apparently resisting pressure to exclude people seen as hostile to the government from participating in the efforts. The committee has been sending relief supplies to the National Emergency Relief Organization (NERO), the General Hospital and Grenada Red Cross. According to a source close to the organization, Celestine’s fate might have been sealed when she refused demands that cash donated to the Committee be handed over to the Embassy to be sent directly to government. According to the official, she was insisting that the money was given to the Committee to aid their relief efforts. Celestine herself was not available for comment Thursday. She was reported to be on her way to Grenada as part of a delegation of the committee, on a visit to deliver more supplies, oversee the distribution and get a first-hand feel of what else is required. She is expected to return to New York early next week to pack her bags for a more permanent journey home. SOURCE: CARIBUPDATE.COM