Her Majesty’s Opposition calls on the public to take careful note of the NDC administration’s questionable involvement with Sewang One World Group and to see whether they have adhered to the much talked about tenets of transparency, accountability, integrity and good governance that Prime Minister Tillman Thomas vowed to follow.

Were the NNP the ones involved in the US$2.5 billion deal - four times Grenada’s GDP- with this group, the NDC would be immediately accusing the members of the NNP of corruption and getting into bed with crooks and con-men. By now, Transparency International, the Agency that rates countries on corruption, and all the foreign press would have been contacted and Grenada’s name and reputation would have been smudged by an NDC Opposition.

It is pathetic that one NDC Minister would say that only ‘a low level half governmental delegation’ visited the Sewang group to gather information about the group’s background and reported that no business should be done with that company.

The fact of the matter is that a low level delegation was sent only because of the diplomatically problematic location of Taiwan, and an initial document was brought back by the delegation for Grenada’s signature after they wined and dined with members of the Sewang group. If the arrests of the Sewang One World officials had come one week later, Her Majesty’s Opposition is of the opinion that all contracts would have been signed; and if it were about six months later, the arrests could have been made in Grenada with more embarrassment for the country.

Crooks, from time to time, would slip through the ‘due diligence net’ as has been proven not only in Grenada under the NNP administration where due diligence was carried out on every investor, but in other countries worldwide. In this case, the NDC made absolutely no checks before signing the MOU and was moving speedily to sign all further contracts when the arrests stopped them in their tracks.

While the NNP is not rejoicing over this highly embarrassing incident, Grenadians need to ask themselves the question: “Did NDC see an opportunity for personal gains from such a massive investment?”

It is interesting to note that the Government of Grenada under the NDC had refused to sign an MOU with Zublin, a highly creditable company that has invested millions of dollars in the country and has contributed significantly towards our economic development but has chosen instead to sign one with a company that they knew very little about.


From Her Majesty's Opposition