St. George, Grenada, March 25th,
2010: 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 [watch].
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 [watch].
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.
