It is the time of the year that Grenadians traditionally would like to forget their troubles, pain and suffering of the past year and give praise and thanks to the one above.

But the current situation in the country will occupy the minds of all the people on this small island known as Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

As Grenadians sit down to have their Christmas and Boxing Day meals and open their homes to relatives and friends, the major talking point this season will be the threat by the Grenada Trades Union Council (GTUC) to engage in mass protest action in the month of January against the imposition of the 5% Reconstruction Levy or Income Tax.

The Spice Isle is once again on the verge of being plunged into darkness and uncertainty.

The Keith Mitchell government has to shoulder some of the blame and responsibility for the mistrust of the people on the 5% tax because of its handling of the nation's finances over the past decade.

The chickens have now come home to roost. Government has indicated that the 5% contribution from the workers will among other things be used on housing in light of the widespread destruction of the housing stock by Hurricanes Ivan to a large extent and then Emily.

It was no secret that many in our midst was telling the government that there was corruption taking place in housing and this needed to be arrested in quick time. The government initially denied that there was corruption.

However, one year later the Prime Minister has been forced to address the nation and openly admit that there was corruption and that some people had abused the system.

He made the startling admission that people who did not have any houses prior to Ivan had been able to beat the system and get houses while some who lost their homes did not get any help.

This newspaper has not heard anything from the government about what had been done to deal with the situation.

How then can the Prime Minister and his government expect workers to make the 5% contribution when nothing has been done to deal with those who engaged in corruption in the housing sector?

The government might have to give some serious consideration to taking back these houses and give to those who were really affected by Ivan and Emily.

But then again, this might be impossible since the widespread feeling in the country is that the supporters of NNP are the ones who would have benefited from the corruption in the distribution of houses.

There is so much corruption taking place under the eyes and noses of the NNP that it is difficult not to imagine that the hierarchy is not aware and contributing to what is really happening.

It is generally known that most of the money used by government to assist the poor and needy in the country through the purchase of building material and supplies end up in the coffers of those hardware stores with NNP ties and connections.

We have heard of several reports of government not getting value for money in some of these arrangements.

The Prime Minister and his team need to investigate reports of one hardware store with NNP ties often going to another well-established hardware store to purchase items that they cannot supply for the "special arrangement" deal that they have with the administration.

It is obvious that under this deal, the building material and supplies will cost the government more money since the NNP hardware store will have to buy and sell at higher prices.

In addition, when goods are purchased from NNP-connected hardware stores in the town and sent to persons in country areas the cost of transportation will make the project much more expensive.

This is the type of corruption that Grenadians are seeing openly under the current NNP government.

And the foreign diplomats in our midst are speaking to their maids, gardeners and drivers and picking up the same kind of information that this newspaper is now highlighting.

The government also has on the payroll a number of persons who lost their seats in the last general elections and seemingly getting paid for doing very little or nothing.

We have constantly heard civil servants asking questions about salaries being paid to the likes of Augustine John, the former Minister of Education, Mark Isaac, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as Laurina Waldron, and even the current Minister of State for Sports, Adrian "Spaceman" Mitchell who is allegedly seen more in his hometown of River Sallee than at his desk in the Botanical Gardens.

Even the Agency for Reconstruction and Development (ARD) is coming under the microscope as an outfit that is not providing Value for Money with its high salaried workers. The list can go on and on.

At this stage, GRENADA TODAY would like to extend a special Christmas greetings to all our loyal readers, supporters and especially the many advertisers who play a critical role in helping to keep us producing this newspaper week after week.

The vital contribution made by these people is fully appreciated by this newspaper and we extend our best Christmas Greetings and Cheers to all of them.