St. George’s, Grenada: A two member delegation from Standard and Poor’s met with the five member delegation from Her Majesty’s Opposition comprising, Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, Dr. the Rt. Hon. Keith Mitchell, Sen. Anthony Boatswain, Hon. Roland Bhola and Sen. Gregory Bowen. The meeting discussed the current economic and social situation in the country.

Former Minister of Finance Sen. Anthony Boatswain who chaired the meeting, pointed out to the team that while he believes that the world crisis is partly responsible for the current economic crisis Grenada faces, the actions and policies of the National Democratic Congress is the major reason why the economy is in its current state.

Boatswain explained that the Ex-Im Bank of China had in principle agreed to fund a port and marina project for St. Patrick’s to the tune of over eighty-five million dollars. This project he said would have created hundreds of jobs for people of the parishes of St. Patrick and St. Andrew, but the Government’s decision to review that project and their subsequent decision that this project was too big for St. Patrick, resulted in loss of a major investment and development opportunity.

He added that the decision of the NDC administration to review and discontinue the signed agreement made by the NNP administration with the Government of China for the completion of the Athletic stadium has also resulted in the loss of a large number of jobs opportunities for Grenadians as the project was lost. He said the Government told the Chinese government they were no longer interested in having the stadium repaired and instead they wanted a hotel project. To date they have no commitment for a new hotel and Grenada has lost over thirty million dollars in grant to refurbish the athletics stadium.

Another example sited was the NDC’s decision to review and make changes to the approved plan for the implementation of the Grenville Market Square Project. Over 35 million dollars was already approved by the Caribbean Development Bank for this project which was scheduled to start in September 2008. However, on assuming office the Government attempted to play politics with the project a decision which resulted in a delay of almost two years, Sen. Boatswain also made reference to the dysfunctional nature of the Government and how this has resulted in a number of projects including the Lewis Hamilton/Grand Beach Project going down the drain. The opposition believes that these and others are the major reason why the Grenada economy is in reverse gear at this time.



From The office of
Her Majesty's Opposition