CATEGORY:DEVELOPMENT -------------------------- INSIDE GRENADA SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17,2007 By Wallace J.A Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell, while speaking at a ceremony held to officially open the Queen’s Park Bridge on Wednesday, categorically denied claims made by persons in the country that his government was more in favor of Chinese labor that that provided by local workers. The Prime Minister, who is Grenada’s Finance Minister, said that Grenada has a rich tradition of protecting Grenadian jobs. “We’ve learnt recently that it has been implied that this government seems to be in collusion to bring in Chinese workers here to do work that Grenadians can do. let me says this, and let me make it perfectly clear, those who are saying it know it is false, and know it is blasphemous, but they choose to do it for their own political purposes’ the Prime Minister said. In recent times, some local contractors have been commenting negatively on the awarding of a contract to a Chinese contracting outfit over a local company. They stated that the competition was unfair and that many Grenadian workers would be deprived of jobs within the sector. On a call-in program held on Monday by one of the nation’s media houses, some callers queried whether the Chinese workers were mandated to pay the stipulated contributions to NIS (National Insurance Scheme). Dr. Mitchell said that Grenadian contractors have been bidding for major development projects locally and regionally. He further stated that government does not have any input into the issuing of private contracts since this is exclusively in the domain of the developer. Recently, the Grenada government has awarded contracts to Collaborative Designs for the rehabilitation of the St. John’s Christian Secondary and Hermitage Government Schools, as well as the construction of a science block at the T.A Marryshow Community College.