CATEGORY:COMMENTARY ------------------------ INSIDE GRENADA TUESDAY May 15,2007 by Lloyd Noel (Attorney-at-law) Someone once said - “to think that we are powerless, is to have already surrendered our strength to someone who is going to manipulate our weakness, for his/her own selfish ends.” And that saying would apply in almost all aspect of our lives - and perhaps none more so than in matters of public affairs, where those in control tend to operate on the basis, that because they are dealing with the public at Large, whatever they say or do will soon be forgotten, or be overtaken by new matters. But it is exactly because public opinion can be so powerful, and demanding of answers and responses from those in control - that we should never cease to say it as we see it, and persist in calling a spade, a spade. And it is in that context and against that background, that the statements and breaking news - coming out of the NNP Rally at Progress Park on Sunday May Sixth (6th), should be questioned and analysed and kept alive, so as to ascertain and understand where we are heading and how we are hoping to get there. Despite all the ole talk, and brango, and political propaganda - as is customary at events like that Sunday’s political Rally - there were also many things said and done that provided plenty food for thought; and we should be thinking. The Cabinet re-shuffle, and in particular those who were re-shuffled, or demoted or simply given tasks that they are clearly not suitable to perform - provide the first area of concern. And the speed with which those same castaways came out - hopelessly trying to justify their rejection Notice and making a very poor job of that - was more than enough to vindicate the public’s concern. And the worn out bramble, that they were being moved around to give them wider experience in different Ministries, that too, is like an empty basket into which the Prime Minister was trying to pour out gallons and gallons of wasted water. Perhaps the one Ministry that seems to function over the years, under the guidance and administration of the Minister of Tourism, Sen. Brenda Hood - that Ministry is being disrupted , with just about a year and a piece, or maybe much less of this Government life to go. And the Minister is being transferred to another Ministry, to gain experience in roads and drains and bridge building. And the Roads and Transport Minister is now moving to deal with Airlines, and Hotels, and Tourist Ships’ Agents and proprietors, to bring more Tourists to Grenada - after our so-called very successful Super Eight World Cup Matches, at the highly acclaimed best Stadium in the Region. And the Minister of Education, who has far more problems on her plate than she can handle - when you add the Ministry of Labour that is in confusion on a daily basis; she is taking on the Ministry of Legal Affairs, where there is perhaps more chaos than in any other Ministry, and the backlog of cases in both the Magistrate and High Court must be second to none in the OECS.And this is being done to allow the Attorney General Elvin Nimrod, to concentrate on Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs, and consolidate his candidacy in that Constituency. Since M. P. Nimrod is also retaining Foreign Affairs with the Attorney General’s Office, I can only assume he is being groomed to deal more fundamentally with that area - in case Anselm Clouden and George Prime succeed, in getting that part of the State to secede from Grenada, and then operate as a Semi-Independant part of the State of “Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.” And as we look at the Status of Ex-Minister for Finance, M. P. Anthony Boatswain, who seem to have been put out to pasture, to do his own thing by initiating a Ministry of Economic Planning - and incorporating therein a few bits and pieces of existing Government machinery, like the G.I.D.C. from which he came to take over Finance from Dr. Mitchell, and to whom he is giving back the said Ministry, at least in name only - it all looks as though there is some hidden motive beneath the surface of the so-called Re-shuffle. Of course, it had been rumored for sometime now that Boatswain was on the way out from Finance, and a new “Kid” was on the cards to come in on the Block - but he was resisting the move since he felt un-comfortable in the alternatives on offer. Our Financial situation, coupled with our stagnant Economic Affairs, cannot get any worse in my view. Our National Debts is nearing Two Billion, if it hasn’t overtaken that level already, and it is going up and up daily - because of the interests we have to pay on Court Judgments in England, Europe, and the U.S.A., that have been obtained against this Government. Because of that Financial chaos, that is strangulating our Economic movement, my latest grapevine news is that the proposed new “Kid” on the Block, is very hesitant and almost reluctant to get on board the sinking Financial ship. We must therefore wait to see how that one plays out. Another spin that can be put on those strange movements, in the name of Cabinet Re-Shuffle to spread experience, could very well have to do with the Prime Minister’s surprising admissions to that public Rally - when he was giving details of the “Jobs for the boys and gals” principle that his party operates. He admitted, that all the losers of the November, 2003, General Elections were provided with Jobs in various Ministries - at Salaries almost on par with operating Ministers. So maybe, he is preparing prospective losers for new Jobs the next time around - in the hope he keeps the one - seat majority that NNP now enjoys in Parliament. Over and above the Prime Minister’s breaking news with the re-shuffle - he went on the rampage with his outbursts on the “Video Tape” saga, surrounding his Switzerland encounter with con-man Resteiner - who is now using all means in a Court in Boston, U.S.A. to get his jail sentence reduced, on Fraud Charges he has pleaded guilty to in the said Court. The Prime Minister was very vocal, that he is fed up with the ever re-curring claims and more claims - that the Video Tape exists showing him receiving that infamous Briefcase with some Five Hundred Thousand green ones from Resteiner. He insisted he only received his “Dam” money, that he had spent for the European trip, and which Resteiner had paid back to him in the sum of approximately Fifteen Thousand Grand. He bemoaned the fact that he did not get much more, but as far as he is concerned the matter is closed. But apart from the manner of his delivery, and the tone of his voice which will be the talking point for some time to come - the moves afoot in the U.S.A. by the Grynberg and RSM Claimants, against Minister Bowen and his Russian counterparts, for huge damages deriving from their alleged conspiracy to cheat The Claimants from the binding Contract to explore for gas and oil in Grenadian waters; those legal moves do not indicate any closure of the case in Bowen’s favour, nor by extension - in the Prime Minister’s favour. In fact, it appears from the Record of payments by the Government of Grenada - to Two Firms of Lawyers in the U.S.A. who are representing Minister Bowen in the case with RSM and Grynberg - that the case is only just hotting up. Between 21st November, 2006 and the 20th March, 2007, Legal Fees paid out of the Grenada Treasury by the Accountant General, to “Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer” and “Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP” (Two New York Law Firms), and the International Arbitration Tribunal in London (ICSID) in the same Claimants case in England, amounted to Two Millions and Ninety-Five Thousands, Six Hundred and Sixty-Three Dollars and Fourteen cents E.C.C. ($2,095,663.14 E.C.C.). The Fee to “Paul, Weiss and Company” of $271,775.00 E.C.C. paid on the 20th March, 2007 - was a one off Fee to appear in Court - to oppose the Subpoena to take a deposition from Resteiner and to have the “Video Tape” released from the Boston Court to the New York Court - as evidence in the case alleging Bribery against Minister Bowen. And the question therefore begs itself - if that Video Tape is going to show Resteiner delivering $15,000.00 U.S. - in an envelope, or a Briefcase, or in some other container - to the Prime Minister on that fateful day in St. Mortiz in Switzerland - why spend $271,775.00 E.C.C. to stop the delivery? Just think of the number of Youths in the Imani programme, that sum could have financed for One year at $8,400.00 per year. (At least 32 with change to spare). And that Legal Bill is not the end - there is much more to come down the Road - so when the Prime Minister himself was saying on that Sunday, that his Government was short of and in dire need of cash - it makes one wonder, until we looked beneath the surface and found the Accountant General’s Report of payments made thus far in the Bribery Case scandal. And talking about Finance and cash shortage - the ex-Minister of Finance and now that of “Economic Planning,” on the eve of his departure from that Ministry, announced that the impending VAT of 15% due to come on stream in October, will not now be taking place because all the pieces are not in place. In other words, the powers-that-be are not ready yet, although they have been preparing for that Tax since early last year. But I suppose most Officers in that Department were kept too busy preparing for CWC2007, and everything else had to take a back seat until whenever. Talking about VAT reminds me that we are here dealing with the CSME and the (CCJ) - Caribbean Court of Justice - and on that subject I noticed a statement in our neighbour’s political wrangling in Trinidad and Tobago about the possible replacement of the Privy Council by the CCJ - which is based in Port-of-Spain. The Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister apparently openly admitted, at long last, that because the Privy Council has been an impediment to hangings in Trinidad and Tobago - that Court should be abolished as the Final Appellate Court, and be replaced by the CCJ - which has been heralded as the “Hanging Court.” Mr. Winston Dookeran described the Prime Minister’s statement as “ludicrous and dangerous thinking” - but it is only the truth coming forth from beneath the surface, as we long ago suspected it to be. In our own backyard here at home, there is a lot of beneath the surface happenings that will come to the forefront and above board in due course of time. The sadness of their coming, unfortunately, will not be making the hard times any better but much worse, and we will have to be prepared to face the music and also dance to the tunes - even when we find them unpalatable. That state of affairs seem to be the hallmark of our public happenings - nearly everything is happening behind the scene and we only get to know when the damage is done. And as per ususal, we have to swallow the same old doses of nonsense until the next happening. How we exist under that system for so long, beats my simple mind - unless there is something underneath.