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HOME	NOVEMBER 05th, 2005

The parliamentary opposition took a correct decision in not giving the Keith Mitchell-led New National Party (NNP) government a blank cheque in respect of its recent move in parliament to reschedule about a quarter of the island's national debt.

The issue of debt rescheduling on conditions favourable to any government is both laudable and commendable. In normal circumstances, no one in their right mind should oppose debt scheduling for a country.

The Grenada situation is vastly different - the NNP raked up a staggering EC$1.3 billion debts in just ten years on a number of questionable projects. And government was trying to get the Opposition to agree to give full and total support to some of the most contentious debts that contributed to the economic and financial crisis now facing the country.

The Opposition still has the task ahead of it to get the Mitchell government to come clean on a number of these debts. The Prime Minister told the same parliamentary sitting that he made mistakes over the years because the NNP was an action-oriented government and in the process mistakes were made.

What he failed miserably to do is inform the nation through the same parliament what exactly were these mistakes. If Dr. Mitchell wants forgiveness then he must come clean before the nation and tell us what were these mistakes that he and the NNP government had made in office.

Is it the setting up of the Call Centre at Seamoon with his family? Is it the manner in which he is seen by so many as misleading Parliament by telling the house that his family would start repaying their fair share of the Call Centre loan as guaranteed by government and then exonerating them of their financial obligations?

This newspaper has put forward the notion recently that a new government should fully investigate the Call Centre fiasco in order to look at the possibility of instituting criminal proceedings against Dr. Mitchell and the NNP government for misbehaviour in public office on this Call Centre issue.

And the opposition NDC is not doing its work in parliament. It needs to ask the government some real serious questions on this Call Centre matter. The Michael Baptiste-led Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the 1999-2003 period was able to get some crucial information from the then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Timothy Antoine and the Accountant-General, Patricia Antoine on government's dealing with Call Centre.

It was in one such session that Mr. Antoine informed the committee that the private shareholders including Dr. Mitchell's family member were no longer involved in the project but that government had taken over the entire venture.

How did this happen? Did the government seize the company? Did it pay-off the private shareholders including the family member of the Prime Minister? If they were paid, the nation needs to know who paid them and how much.

It is our contention that if the Call Centre project had brought in millions of dollars in profit then the Prime Minister's family also stood to benefit with millions of dollars being paid into their coffers. Why did the NNP government take over a lost-making venture and exonerate the private shareholders including the Prime Minister's family of their obligations to help pay-off the debt.

And this is the same government that is now asking the opposition to give them full and total support in rescheduling payment on a portion of the national debt including that of the Call Centre.

GRENADA TODAY holds the view that the NDC would have been committing treason by closing their eyes and going along with the motion as presented without making the necessary noises in parliament. We have a strong feeling that a new government with the will to straighten out this country would find the evidence to get the Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions to act and to bring some people to court on this Call Centre issue.

The evidence is right here in Grenada. We do not have to go to St. Moritz, Switzerland to get information about the Call Centre deal with the Prime Minister and his family. Tell us, Dr. Mitchell when would your family start paying back that part of the national debt that is known as the Call Centre fiasco. Does this Prime Minister and his NNP government have a conscience?

No one in this country should pay the 5% income tax that the NNP is demanding that workers should start to pay from January unless and until the Prime Minister gets his family to help wipe out the Call Centre debt which is now a strain and heavy burden on the taxpayers of this country.

The ball is in the court of the opposition NDC, other opposition parties, trade unions and members of Civil Society who have a commitment to good government and transparency in public office.