By Max Sterling

Permit me to spend a little time reflecting on Red Day in Grenada of last Friday 20th January, 2006.

I am happy that a compromise was reached between the Police and organisers of the protest march cum rally of the TUC. Fortunately for us we have a Commissioner of Police who understands the importance of giving democracy space to continue to flourish.

I was waiting to see how Commissioner James would have handled this, his first major public protest since he was installed to act as Commissioner of Police.

It is my view that he handled the matter well, as a test run for the many more to come. Of course some may take a different view to this opinion, but I am glad that the day went by without incident. I also believe that Mr. James needs to gird himself with the spiritual strength to be able to cope with the many crises which are looming on the Grenadian horizon. He needs to become a bridge to unite his force reintroducing them thus to the tenets of professionalism and non partisanship in their line of duty.

I know he can do it since he has the respect and admiration of the majority of his subordinates. The issue of disallowing the protest from passing anywhere close to the vicinity of Parliament which now sits at the Grenada Trade Center was a very good one, indeed.

The pent-up anger of the majority of Grenadians against the wanton mismanagement of their affairs by the corrupt NNP administration was enough fuel to have encouraged a few to stray from the protest and take things into their own hands thus sparking off trouble and riot in Grenada.
That is something we can do without at this point in time, especially as our hotels have just started receiving visitors during this winter season after such a lull inflicted on the economy by Hurricane Ivan.

I beg the Keith Mitchell administration to appreciate that people are shy to protest especially as they can recall being brutalized and murdered by State forces sympathetic to the incumbent in both 1974 and 1983. This does not mean that they are afraid of reconnecting to their passion to protest – since there is always a breaking point.

The Speaker of the House will do well to appreciate this and not make a fool of himself to ever attempt to suspend any of the Commonwealth Citizens in the Parliamentary Opposition because he is not satisfied with their response to his question as to their citizenship.

As I heard one of the senior elected Opposition Parliamentarians intimate: The 22,000 Grenadians who voted for them will have to take to the streets – whether it is through motorcade or on foot. That will be a hell of a number of people for the approximately 1,200 man police force to prevent from letting their voices be heard.

I am sure if Little Black would acknowledge his main fault – i.e. a man who cannot be trusted – and he would have indicated to the people the urgent need to meet the international community’s demands to match funds with their intended aid vital to our reconstruction efforts, they may have been openly willing to contribute. But it is not what you do is how you do it.

Little Black seems to forget that his track record as a man who cannot account for anything under his charge from his Shipping Agents’ days to the present (especially the last ten years) – is what is following him everywhere he goes.

Keith Mitchell needs to understand the reality that he is able to retain the position he is in by only 6 votes -- and he has lost many more since 2003.

Being faced with those realities he had every right to come to the table of the TUC, Chamber, Employers’ Federation, NGOs and Conference of Churches proposing to them this National Reconstruction Levy (NRL) with a view to having them involved in the process of its accountability to the people.

At least three members of the panel should have been selected to place their signatures jointly on any funds to be disbursed from monies collected under the NRL which would have been in an independent account to that of the Consolidated Fund.

I am sure with such provision for accountability; Mitchell may have been able to collect as much as 10% in some cases. For the TUC to have gone against this arrangement, they would have been mistaken.

But Mitchell’s high handed approach to the matter does not help in light of the fact that a vast majority of people do not trust him, and that he only leads the country by six questionable votes.

These are enough reasons for Mitchell to have taken the approach outlined above. As I have revealed here before, it is not that people do not want to contribute to the fund, but they have a problem letting their money go in the hands of an administration headed by him.

The fact of the mater is that he has so many dark clouds over his head when it comes to the mismanagement of country’s scarce resources. I know that his newly elected Public Relations Officer must share this feeling especially as he, too is an economist. I am sure if he were invited to advise on this matter, privately he would have suggested a formula to Mitchell which would have had some bearing on his own upbringing – one which is far dissimilar from Mitchell.

Isn’t it laughable when you hear Mitchell making a statement like the following: “As long as I am the Prime Minister there will be no unrest in Grenada, Carriacou & Petit Martinique.”

I have heard better cocks than Mitchell crow before and they ended up in the best pelau! Come on! Don’t you remember both Gairy and Bishop making similar statements when their power bases were threatened.

I recall being very young when Gairy made a similar statement. In a speech noted for its threatening tone he said “When your neighbour’s house is on fire, you must wet yours”. This was in reference to the Black Power Movement which had started in neighboring Trinidad.

He announced plans to enroll the toughest and roughest rough necks in the Police Force to deal with any dissension. What eventually happened to him?
Bishop also came one night on radio (after midnight) to deliver a very threatening speech promising heavy manners to anyone who is heard repeating the rumour that Coard wanted to kill him.

He promised further to bring the full force of the Revo to bear on anyone caught repeating this rumour. What happened to him? Mitchell must really smell his demise and so is programmed to make these statements as a cue to us that he knows his end is very near at hand.

The recent statement put out by the Mitchell administration regarding their alarm at the statement put out by the Chamber of Commerce shows how much they have lost the battle over the 5%.

I am one to advise every working man and woman in this country not to contribute any money to this NRL thus putting your scarce dollars in NNP’s hands.

If accountability is not going to be integral to this effort, do not contribute for fear that your scarce dollars end up in overseas private bank accounts.

I can hear the jail door banging very loudly. Woe be on to those who will be behind that door when it closes!