Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell has told a group of visting regional journalists that Grenada is “bouncing back nicely” following Hurricanes Ivan and Emily, with the spirit of reconstruction deep in the veins of every Grenadian man, woman and child.

The journalists were visiting Grenada as guests of the Grenada Board of Tourism (GBT) to observe and promote the strides being made in the industry.

The Government Information Service (GIS) quoted the Grenadian leader as telling the regional media that he had noticed a willingness on the part of nationals to fully cooperate with the Government in rebuilding their lives. “The attitudes of our people have changed considerably for the benefit of the reconstruction process and communities are picking up the mantle to do things for themselves, without depending much on Government”, he said.

Housing was described as a priority for the Grenada Government, since some 90% of the housing stock was destroyed by hurricanes Ivan and Emily. Dr Mitchell said that over thirty-two million dollars have been spent throughout the country on resuscitating the housing stock. He stated that government’s policy is that the vulnerable, dispossessed and disenfranchised, must be taken care of first.

He spoke to the regional journalists about the country’s economy and people being able to understand that sacrifices have to be made for the country to get “back on track”. The Grenadian leader stated that he holds fast to the philosophy that “the smaller the Government, the better off the country will be” and that government ought to create the enabling environment for investment and allow people to take the risks and the opportunities for viable enterprises.

Dr. Mitchell told the journalists that emphasis is being placed on the Nation’s youth through several programmes designed to raise their self-esteem, including the National Youth Service Programme, skills enhancement, micro initiatives and Sports. He also touched on the question of the Caribbean man benefiting from the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), disaster preparedness and cricket.

Speaking at length on cricket and the fact that the region is getting geared to host World Cup 2007, the Prime Minister spoke of the structure within the West Indies which needs to nurture its talented players. He is confident, though, that West Indies will return to its winning ways.

Among the journalist meeting with Dr. Mitchell were Dale Enoch of 95.5 FM Radio in Trinidad, Johnson Johnrose of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Radio Producer Arturo Valentino, Timothy slinger of the Nation Newspaper in Barbados, Kayode James and Nanton Hawkins of the Trinidad Express and Search Light Newspaper in St. Vincent.

GIS said that Dr. Mitchell’s meeting with the regional journalists is all part of his newly launched “Touching Base” initiative with all important sectors of development.

“Touching Base which deals with the reality of meeting and understanding the plight of people was launched on Wednesday 26th October 2005”, it added. Since then, Dr. Mitchell has been on tour of several of the hotels in the South of the island, looking at progress being made with their reconstruction”, it said.

Prior to “Touching Base”, Prime Minister Mitchell was engaged in similar programes known as “Face-to-Face” prior to the 2003 general election.