EDITORIAL

GRENADA TODAY is in full support of the decision taken by Member of Parliament for St. Andrew South-east, Kenrick Fullerton to step aside from the organs of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in light of his present predicament.

It took guts and courage for Mr. Fullerton to appear before the local media on Tuesday and read his prepared statement on the issue which attracted national attention.

Our position is that the M.P should also exclude himself as a candidate for the next general elections and instead spend the time to put his personal affairs in good order and standing in order to stand the test of time.

It is not the intention of this newspaper to find Mr. Fullerton  guilty of the accusations made against him in light of the aged old saying: Show me a man who has not sinned or fallen short of the glory of God.

We are also reminded of another saying: Let those without sins cast the first stone. How many of us can do that? If there is one positive that will come out of the Kenrick Fullerton issue is that the NDC as a party has raised the political bar to a higher level for others to follow.
The message is now clear to others in that party that the same treatment that was administered to the M.P for St. Andrew South-east should be the same medicine given to others elected officials of Congress who engage in activities and behaviour that can bring the party into disrepute.

The NDC should forget all the ole talk coming from the NNP and its so-called Public Relations Officer (PRO) Kennedy Roberts that the current issue is part of some strategy to look for a replacement for Mr. Fullerton since the ruling party is poised to win the seat in the next general election.

The NNP yard stick should not be used by anyone of substance in this country to judge issues of morality and decency in both public and private life. Both Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell and his deputy, Gregory Bowen have been accused of wrong-doing and still continue to operate as if nothing ever happened.

History would recall that Dr. Mitchell and Minister Bowen told lies to the people of this country. GRENADA TODAY is not even referring to the US$500, 000.00 bribery allegations against the Prime Minister with international fraudster, Eric Resteiner.

The Prime Minister assured Parliament which is the highest decision making body in this country that his family members would repay their portion of the multi-million dollar loan that was taken to set up the Call Centers at the Seamoon Industrial Park in St. Andrew's.

He was bold-faced enough to even give the date for the start of repayment. All this is recorded in Hansard. No one is making up any falsehood against the current holder of the Office of Prime Minister. But low and behold Dr. Mitchell and his government changed the rules of the game in order to protect his family members and virtually ensured that they did not pay back a single cent of the multi-million dollar loan.

The Prime Minister and his NNP government bought out the shares of his family members and turned Call Centre which was losing millions of dollars into a complete state-run entity. Any right-thinking government would have looked at ways to stop the bleeding on the public purse.

And to add insult to injury, Dr. Mitchell and his ministers turned around and used the dividends given by Cable & Wireless to the Treasury for the taxpayers of this country to pay off some of the massive debts incurred by Call Centre.

GRENADA TODAY holds strongly to the view that a new administration needs to revisit the Call Centre issue with a view to pressing criminal charges of misbehavior in Public Office against Prime Minister Mitchell and others in the NNP on this vexing matter.

In the case of Gregory Bowen, he was caught in the open telling a huge lie on his role in the Jack Grynberg affair. There is documented evidence to prove that Minister Bowen was engaged in deception of the highest order against the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

Grenadians would only get to realise in large numbers in the years to come about the massive mismanagement of the finances of this country by the current NNP outfit.

Are we really a failed State? Is the country facing bankruptcy or already financially bankrupt? Is Grenada back to where it was in 1989 - declared as being uncreditworthy by the world's financial institutions?

What we know is that Grenada under Mitchell's NNP administration is regarded in some financial circles as "the place to go if you are looking to commit investment and banking fraud, provided you have a generous budget for bribing and corrupting the local politicians and civil servants, that is"!