Prime Minister Tillman Thomas has been accused of dishonesty in his comments on former Grenada consul general to New York, Derrick James. The prime minister was being “dishonest or he was asleep” in cabinet when proposals were presented on regularizing James’ diplomatic status, former foreign minister Peter David said. David’s remarks were made in response to statements made on Wednesday by Thomas to the Grenada Broadcasting Network (GBN). The Grenada government has faced a barrage of questions and criticism from nationals at home and abroad after the press reported on Tuesday that James had been fired from the New York job that he has held since 2008. James, a U.S. citizen, was appointed to the position by David. He received his formal notice of termination from the Grenada government on Wednesday. “The fact that Mr James is a United States citizen renders him ineligible to be appointed to the position of consul general,” the government said in a statement on Tuesday. “His citizenship would properly allow him only an appointment as honorary consul. The government of Grenada has been aware of these circumstances for some time, and in the wake of the US State Department’s most recent representation on the matter has no alternative but to bring an end to Mr James’ purported appointment.” David, a longtime friend of James, said as far back as 2009, a “simple solution” to solving James’ diplomatic citizenship issue was presented to cabinet. It was a solution, he said, that was based on a model used by other countries, including Antigua, whose top diplomatic in New York has been an Antiguan with US citizenship and holding the title honourary consul general. The consul general is assisted by a deputy who is a non-US citizen. “I honestly believe that the reason why this government did not put that solution in place is simply because of political motivation,” David charged. “Mr James was appointed by myself when I was foreign minister. He remains a close friend of mine and I think this has turned out to be fatal. Consul General James is paying a price for being a friend of mine.” David was transferred from foreign affairs to the ministry of tourism in 2010, and altogether resigned from government last April. MP Karl Hood succeeded David as foreign minister. Hood resigned from government in May and Prime Minister Thomas has been serving as foreign minister for the past seven months. Thomas, in Wednesday’s GBN interview, blamed David for James not having his status regularized. “Peter David gave cabinet the assurance that steps would be taken to put something in place whereby someone else would be accredited and he (James) would be more like an honorary and we thought that was done,” the prime minister said. “The line minister who was responsible when that matter came up is Peter David. He is the one who has failed to ensure that the permanent secretary and others follow up and do what ought to be done and they never did it. So, I was under the impression that that was done.” Government has promised to “dialogue” with James in employing him in another capacity. “It is entirely possible, and the government is willing to dialogue with Mr James, regarding whether or not he’ll be interested in working in some sort of administrative or technical capacity. He could do so at the very same consulate, but not at the status of consul general, because that would not be consistent with the law,” said William Joseph, chief of staff in the Prime Minister’s Office. Meanwhile, another former cabinet minister, Joseph Gilbert, said that the Grenada government’s sacking of James follows a pattern and he’s “not surprised by the action of the NDC regime”. “It is part of their ongoing war of attrition against some of our most hardworking and patriotic sons and daughters serving at home and abroad,” Gilbert said. Gilbert noted that government itself has admitted that the solution was simply naming James an honourary consul general. “So why then,” Gilbert asked, “was his status not regularized by appointing him as honorary consul? Is that not the traditional practice adopted by many other countries which have seen the wisdom in having their most efficient and effective nationals carry out such assignment, even though the particular individuals hold US citizenship?” According to Gilbert, Antigua along with several other countries is known to have opted to appoint honorary consuls general in the United States in order to comply with US regulations. American law restricts US citizens from being appointed as consuls general for other countries. “I was in cabinet at the time and I can testify that this Antigua solution was put to the prime minister in cabinet,” Gilbert said. “The prime minister is fully aware of how the matter could have been resolved if he wanted to have it resolved. But, the political will was absent on the part of the PM. What we see happening now is not political will to resolve the issue but political mischief.” James, Gilbert said, now joins a long list of competent patriotic citizens, including former Senator Arley Gill, “who have been fired by the NDC administration for politically motivated reasons”. James, who received his official termination notice on Wednesday, described his four years as consul general as a “wonderful and rewarding experience. This experience affirmed that my purpose is in the service of others.” He said he embraces his departure as consul general “as a new beginning strongly rooted in my commitment to service.” Source: caribnewsnow