Two weeks ago, immediately after returning from a business meeting in Taiwan as an official representative of the Government of Grenada, Mr. Vincent Roberts, an adviser to Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, accused the Government of the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) and the previous New National Party (NNP) Government of Grenada of setting up diplomatic relations in a corrupt manner.

At that time, the Opposition NNP said that it hoped that Mr. Roberts’ offensive and insulting remarks reflected only the views of a fringe group in Government and not the Government’s official point of view. The NNP then asked the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to distance itself from Mr. Roberts’ remarks and called on the Tillman Thomas Government to make a full and sincere apology to the People’s Republic of China.

Since then, the Government has not openly sanctioned Mr. Roberts, nor has it offered a public apology to the PRC. One can only then assume that Mr. Roberts’ remarks do in fact represent the true position of the NDC Government.

On behalf of the People of Grenada, the NNP now offers its full, honest and heartfelt apology to the PRC and hopes that the strong bond of trust and the warm and friendly relationships that have been established between our two countries will endure.

Regrettably, over the last two years, Government has created an unfriendly and unreceptive attitude to foreign investors. That antagonistic attitude has now crept into our international relationships with key allies.

Grenada is proud of its sovereignty and independence but in today’s world independence without an understanding of interdependence is a prescription for disaster.


From the Opposition New National Party