ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, April 24, 2009 – Government has cited a cost overrun of more than $7.5 million as among the “worries and fears’’ that have led to a move that could see the dissolution of the board of the Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association (GCNA). A final decision on the future of the board will be made following the receipt of correspondence from the officers of the GCNA. Government has asked the board to offer reasons why it should not be dissolved. MP Michael Church, the Acting Minister of Agriculture, has said that the GCNA is in what he describes as governance crisis with the inefficient handling of its financial affairs.alt He also accused GCNA directors of trying to mislead on the true state of the association’s finances. “At a meeting held between the directors of the GCNA and the Agriculture Minister on March 26, numerous revelations about the true financial state of the GCNA came to light. In fact, there were attempts at times to misrepresent the facts,’’ claimed Mr. Church, the parliamentary representative for St. John. He added: “The acting chairperson of the GCNA informed the meeting that its monthly interest payment on the loan for the Lagoon Road project was $70,000 (but) the truth was finally revealed. According to bank information received, the required monthly interest payment was in fact $107,000.” Six years ago, the GCNA began construction of a new facility in the Lagoon Road area of St. George’s. The complex is yet to be completed. “Its initial cost was estimated at $12.5 million,’’ Mr. Church explained. “However, to date, it has a running cost of over $20 million. An engineer, who is intimate with the project, hinted that another $1.2 million could be required to complete the complex.” Mr. Church, a former GCNA manager, is a development consultant and former T.A. Marryshow Community College lecturer, who specialises in agricultural economics. In appointing his cabinet after last July’s general election victory of the National Democratic Congress, Party Leader and Prime Minister Hon. Tillman Thomas named Mr. Church as Minister of State for Finance, Planning, Economy, Energy and Foreign Trade. He was put in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture on an interim basis in place of Agriculture Minister and MP for St. David, Hon. Denis Lett, who is on a leave of absence. Mr. Church said the “inaccuracy of the financial status’’ of the 62-year-old GCNA has presented “tremendous worries and fears about the future’’ of the association. He argued that “decisive actions’’ must be taken if the GCNA is to remain viable. One of the keys to the survival of the GCNA is to put in place a “committed board’’ and a leadership that is “prudent, disciplined and responsible,’’ the Acting Agriculture Minister emphasized. Source:ndcgrenada.org/