Last year at this time, the celebrations of the majority of our people were centered around the change they were clamouring for and which they got – so that with the carnival season and spice mass 2k8, there was a double-headed reason to jump up, to wine and jam, and play mass. And one year seemed to have passed by – as speedily as the economy and the global depression have deteriorated into doom and gloom and deeper chaos, then we have ever experienced. Of course, those persons who replaced the ones who were changed – they could not have done much about the economy nor the recession because those conditions were beyond their capability to make any difference – especially in such a short space of time. But that short-coming not-with-standing – those in the driving seat of power - control and authority, they still had a responsibility to be seen to have made some difference. Whether they did or not is a matter of opinion, and a sore point for many who tend to feel that they were getting a better deal from the last lot. One thing the complainants, or detractors, or opposition elements have not been saying – nor can they be saying – is that there is any semblance of corruption, or shady dealings by those in authority with any con man in that first year of operation. True enough, many rightly feel that the controllers have been too slow, or far too reluctant to take action or commence investigations into situations that appear to be crying out for action and in-depth attention – based on the statements and allegations and occurrencies that were rampant and highly publicised in the years before July 8th 2008 – and even more disturbing, very suspect actions and top level decisions carried out on the day before the Elections last year, and on the very day itself. How very much that level of in-activity had to do with the individual Minister or Ministers concerned, or the policy of the group as a whole, or the lack of appreciation of the in-depth relevance of the political Kudos or ramifications such actions would have un-leashed – only time and the up-coming months ahead would tell. But whatever it was, or however it may turn out to be – the P.M. responded to the many concerns and widespread public advice to reshuffle his team of Ministers, and did so last week Thursday. The changes made by the P.M. were not un-expected, in that he removed Tourism from the portfolio of Hon. Peter David and left him with Foreign Affairs only. Tourism is now under the control of Hon. Glynis Roberts, and her Ministries of Labour, Social Security and Ecclesiastical Affairs have been put under the control of Hon. Karl Hood, who used to be the Health Minister. Sen. Ann Peters has now being made the Minister of Health, which many said she was in fact in full control of while a Minister of State in that Ministry. Hon. Sylvester Quarless has now been made a full Minister responsible for Social Development. Hon. Michael Church has also been made a full Minister – responsible for the Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development. The other Ministers remained as existed before, except that culture has been removed from Hon. Patrick Simmons and put under the P.M’s portfolio, and Sen. Arley Gill has also been moved from Youth and Sports and is now Minister of State in the P.M’s Ministry – with responsibility for Information, Communication, I.T. and Culture. The vacated position of Attorney General is now under the Acting control of Mr. Rohan Phillip – who was the Solicitor General in the Ministry of Legal Affairs, which Ministry falls under the many portfolios of the Hon. Prime Minister. In making those changes – the P.m. said he was confident that the Ministers affected will approach their new assignment with a continued sense of purpose, a willingness to learn, a commitment to teamwork an unshakeable determination to serve the people with reasonableness and fairness. We all have and abiding duty to support tem all, and sincerely wish them well – in the interest and the good and welfare of all our people. whether they succeed or they fail – in the performance of their duties as the controllers of our nation’s affairs on behalf of our people – the end result, be it good, bad or indifferent, will rebound to the benefit or the detriment of all the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique – not that of the N.D.C. or the N.N.P. nor any other PP. While the P.M. was concerned with making changes to improve the performance of his team in Government, the ex-deputy Leader of the NNP, Mr. Gregory Bowen, was in the news trying to score some points from the indiscretion and resulting resignation of the ex-A.G, Mr. Jimmy Bristol – in the RSM/Grynberg Oil and gas conflict with the Government of Grenada. It started off on a radio program and then he was shown on the GBN news one night last week – showing off a document that contained a witness statement from Mr. Jimmy Bristol to the Arbitration hearings in London in the said Gas and Oil dispute. He was claiming that there was a conflict of interest, because Jimmy was A.G. and he was appearing in London as the Lawyer for Grynberg and RSM against the Government of Grenada. The very document he was exhibiting, started off by pointing out that Jimmy was a partner in the firm of “Henry, Henry and Bristol” which represented Grynberg and his Company in negotiations with the then Government of Grenada of which Mr. Bowen was the deputy Prime Minister. And that was many years ago. Mr. George Worme of Grenada Today, was shown on the same news item exhibiting the written judgment of the Arbitration Tribunal – in which the Lawyers for both sides in the Tribunal hearing were listed – and neither of them was “Henry, Henry and Bristol ”. Talk about trying to score cheap and deceitful political points, in conditions when someone was down to try and push him further down and to embarrass the Government. But Bowen went further and made an even bigger ignoramus of himself, by trying to create alarm about further Court house debt falling on the Government and people of Grenada . He was bemoaning the fact that the present Government has refused to hire Lawyers in New York – to act on his (Bowen’s) behalf in the case Grynberg brought against him when, as alleged by Grynberg that he – as Minister for Energy in the NNP Government – had demanded under-the-counter payments to enable him to give the Oil mining Contract to Grynberg’s Company RSM. Grynberg brought the case for over a Billion dollars in damages, for breach of contract against Bowen, Lev Model and another Russian Conman – on the ground that they had conspired to deny his Company RSM, which had done the exploration and discovered Oil in Grenadian off-shore economic zone, from getting the final Contract to mine the Oil and Gas after spending Millions on the project. Lev Model and his mate had advanced over Two Million dollars- purportedly to help pay for Bowen’s Defence in the case and the Government of Grenada had paid a Legal firm in New York to represent Bowen. The Case was apparently dismissed on some legal technicality in the U.S. system and Grynberg had been given leave to Appeal – but Bowen’s Lawyers want more fees to argue the Appeal on his behalf. Bowen said on T/V, that the Government and people of Grenada could be lumbered with a debt of over a Billion dollars, if the Government fail to defend the Appeal and Grynberg get a default Judgment. Unless the defeat at the Polls, and the loss of his own seat in Parliament to Pastor Hood, still have him in an on-going state of loss of memory and gross denial – he must be well aware that the Government of Grenada was not sued and is therefore not a party against whom any future claim for payment of damages can be made. Mr. Bowen and his con-men associates were sued in their personal capacity, and it is common knowledge that a demand for Bribery is not part of the daily functions of any Government Minister – not even in our long-suffering and bubul-oriented state of Grenada and its dependencies. What Mr. Bowen and his advisers should also be aware of - is that even though he was sued as a Minister of Government – our highest Court of Appeal in London has ruled many years ago, that a Minister of Government who commits acts of negligence, or of a Criminal nature that will make the Government liable to anyone who suffers losses as a result – that Minister is personally liable for his acts or omissions or whatever. And if the ex-Deputy P.M. is in any doubt – he only has to consult the ex-Minister of Finance in the same Government he was a party of (Mr. Boatswain) for his experience in the late Eric Gairy property case, that was brought by the late Derek Knight in our High Court in Grenada – when he had given the undertaking to make some payments towards the judgment as Minister of Finance. When the payments were not made, he was brought before the Judge – Sir Denis Byron in the No. one High Court – and would have been on his way to Richmond Hill prison for contempt of Court, if he didn’t get his superiors to issue a cheque before he was allowed to leave Court. So the dramatic and propaganda announcement, by Mr. Bowen, that the present Government would have to pay Grynberg and RSM $1.35 Billion U.S. for Bowen’s wrong doing as a Government Minister – that was mere wishful thinking, and he had better start getting those Russians – who also benefitted from the CALL CENTRE financial scandal at Seamoon in Grenville – to come up with more dirty money to pay those Lawyers in New York. The question now looming larger than life itself, and very visible and pregnant with all kinds of hopeful expectations, and just as many un-known possibilities and dis-appointments in the months and years ahead is – where do we go from here on? Whatever impact the Cabinet re-shuffle may have on the transparency of the Government activities, and however often the opposition members choose to walk out of Parliament in the months and years ahead – whenever their Leader behaves in an un-parliamentary manner and is booted out by the Speaker – the lasting and abiding reality remains constant, in that we have as a people to improve our standards on all fronts – be they the cost of living going downwards, our moral and ethical standards moving upwards, our social and educational levels rising from the bottom to nearer the top, and just as essential – our spirituality and human rights considerations returning to their former days of meaningful concern and care for one and all – regardless of their political preference. By Lloyd Noel (Attorney-at-Law/Columnist)