INSIDE GRENADA MARCH 05, 2008 by Lloyd Noel We have gone beyond the double standards into the world of the all-purpose standards. I am warning this Country and our people that we are heading for an explosion because the faith of a lot of people is running out. What we need is to proclaim a set of principles and live by them. No one could honestly claim, that we have not been engaged in many periods of struggle over the years - from colonial days right up to the on-set of Independence in February 2004 - to bring about change and lay down foundations to enable our people in these Isles to enjoy a better quality of life. And although the struggles have been on-going from as far back as 1951 - with the arrival of Eric Gairy from Aruba, to set the scene on fire literally with the days and nights of "Sky Red" - we seem after all those years to be going a few steps forward, and then reversing many paces backwards. And what is engaging a whole lot of very concerned Citizens across the political divide - is that the backward steps are amateurish but with serious consequences, and those making the same blunders and very suspicious and sinister moves, seem to keep on doing so as though they have a Licence to cause chaos and very expensive consequences. And in my very humble opinion, one of the major road blocks over the years - in putting and maintaining a workable Road Map in place to move our small Country and basically very peaceful and tolerable people along life’s pathway to peace and prosperity - has been, and continues to be, the dis-honest stupidity of those (many) persons who refuse to see the inherent dangers they are in fact supporting and defending, because they are benefitting materially from the perpetrators. I have no doubt whatsoever, that their day of reckoning will catch up with them in due course of time - from the basic principle that good will always triumph over evil, it only sometimes take more time than we want; but my concern is mainly because in the mean time, and between times, too many innocent and law-abiding ordinary people are getting hurt. And by the looks of what is happening now-a-days, a far more very disturbing and widely spreading calamity, is taking root and spreading its venom across our once safe land - and that is an even greater cause for concern. That social disease, which is manifesting itself in serious Criminal activities - is a direct result emanating from the evil deeds and wrong-doings at the very top of the social ladder - now very steadfastly finding open minds and fertile tendencies waiting and ready to indulge in Crime, because it seems to be the accepted pattern of behaviour of so many of those occupying positions of authority. And the latest calamity, involves a Policeman hiding outside the window of the office of the NDC Headquarters, and caught in the act of taping or recording the meeting of the NDC Executive which was taking place inside the office. Next to the said headquarters on Lucas Street in St. George’s is a derelict building which was damaged since "Ivan", and is standing there as an eye-sore for all those years. The NDC private meeting started about 5.p.m. on Tuesday 26th February, and was in progress for about two and a half hours before one chap noticed a red light moving up and down outside. The others were alerted and some chaps rushed outside - just in time to catch the man who was apparently lying on the ground between the two buildings, with the recording device and engaging in the grossly un-lawful act of eavesdropping and recording the conversations going on inside. There were two men on the outside - but one escaped from the old building and made his way towards the old fort. Upon being questioned the detained man admitted he was a policeman and had his ID to prove that, and he also gave the name of his senior officer who had detailed him to carry out the acts of Espionage - spying on the NDC Executive meeting and recording what was being discussed on the inside. The policeman and his colleague who escaped, were clearly not indulging in those Criminal activities of their own accord, and I would go further and suggest - neither was the senior officer who had detailed them to such despicable duties of spying on the Hon. Leader of Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition, and the representatives of well over half of the voting population of her loyal subjects. Members of the Media were called and many turned up to take photos of the Officer and hear the details from NDC Executive members. The police station on the Carenage was also called, but no one showed up until about an hour or so thereafter when Inspector Raymond Matthew (alias "Beast") appeared, very casually dressed and escorted the dis-graced officer from the Scene. Yet with no shame or remorse, I heard a Big Boy in Security making the scandalous statement - that the officer was Assaulted by NDC personnel while in the course of carrying out his duties. He very carefully omitted to say ----"carrying out his legal duties". And other Senior persons in the Police hierarchy, and stooges enjoying political patronage with no shame what-so-ever, have also been further disgracing the Police Force and adding greater shame and scandal to the image of Grenada - in the region and Worldwide. But as one chap from St. David stopped me at the Airport last Thursday to evening to observe, that despite all the struggles NJM had in the Seventies with Eric Gairy and his GULP, not once was our Executive or "Bureau" ever been subjected to such degrading treatment by the "Green Beasts" or the "Mongoose Gang" members of those days. And that very seasoned struggler of those by-gone years also commented, very seriously and sincerely - that in the setting that existed or that night of espionage, by the officers who have been appointed to enforce law and order, and ensure that the Rule of Law is applied to one and all by virtue of the Supreme Law of our Independence Constitution - that our said Leader of the Opposition, and his fellow members of Parliament in both Houses, were placed in very grave danger of serious physical harm, while in the course of carrying out their lawful duties as enshrined in our Constitution in support of our Parliamentary democracy. Grenadians of all shades of colour and religious persuasion, and employees or employers, and Trade Unions and NGOs, and any social standing, and all ages of basic understanding - we are going the very wrong way; and if enough of us, but preferably all of us, do not wake up and get out of our places of slumber - to help turn back the raging tide of downward trend taking us towards disaster - we will all suffer the consequences one way or another!! We have to set and support standards that all our people can live by, and in due course benefit from. We cannot and must not, support or follow trends that will appeal to people in the short run, without creating a better Country and better informed people in the long run. The people sticking their necks out, are doing so in the interest and welfare of Grenada and the people who inhabit these Isles. The wrong-doings are now so blatant that they defy logic and understanding, and to add insult to grave injustice and denial of the NDC Executive’s basic Constitutional and human rights - during the past week-end some of them were summoned to the CID to be interrogated and give statements to the Police, in connection with the bogus and shameless alleged charge that they assaulted the policeman in the exercise of his "so-called duties" of spying on a lawful meeting. When an offender is caught red-handed in the commission of such a serious criminal offence - those whose rights are being violated have a solemn and very responsible duty to make a Citizens arrest - so long as undue and un-necessary physical force is not indulged in by the ones making the arrest, and the police at the nearest police station is contacted to attend and take over the offender, or he is brought to the station. My reliable information is that the said policeman was properly treated, and even when the news got around and members of the public appeared on the scene, along with the Media people - the Executive members were very protective of the policeman against possible physical attack by some outraged members of the public. So now, rather than the Minister for National Security with responsibility for the Police Force, and the Commissioner of Police (COP) - publicly apologizing to the NDC Executive and the whole Grenadian people, and even offering their resignation from their very responsible offices - they are on a witch hunt to harass and humiliate the very law-abiding citizens who were offended in the first place, and who were fortunate enough to apprehend one offender while the other escaped. And as the Commentary related above highlighted - those Executive members, in the circumstances where the atrocious activities were taking place, they could all have been the victims of serious physical harm. The desperation and fearful anxiety now permeating the political atmosphere in these Isles, are so very pronounced and highly critical for those sparing no effort to make sure they are in the winners seats when that first Parliament opens after the next General Elections - that it will surely be a case of anything goes and no holes barred. The time has long passed by when responsible Citizens, and groups and organizations of all kinds should have been making their voices heard - in the interest of our Country and people as a whole. We are now seeing the scraping of the bottom of the barrel with escalating Criminal activities at the lower level - while at the very top of the ladder of national responsibility, those with no viable ideas or solutions to stem the raging tide - they are resorting to Espionage to get some tips from the other side. How much lower down the cesspit can we go?