Editorial
The Henry Paryag dismissal and the result of the court case involving former diplomat, Janice Celestine are just gentle reminders of the reckless manner in which Keith Mitchell and his New National Party (NNP) have been treating the business of government in Grenada over the years.
The government for whatever reason took the decision to end Mr. Paryag's tenure as the Number Two Magistrate in St. George's.
The termination took place with effect from the beginning of this year. One would have thought that the Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Elvin Nimrod would have put the necessary systems in place to deal with the situation.
The minister had months to find a suitable replacement but this is not the case at the moment.
Today the administration is seemingly running around the place looking for a sit-in Magistrate. Didn't they know all along that an adequate replacement had to be found?
The irony of the situation is that there is no Magistrate sitting in the Number Two court in town and all the cases coming up before that very court have to be adjourned and put back to another date.
In addition, all matters started by the outgoing Magistrate and not completed by him would now have to restart under his replacement and time again is being wasted.
Not only the time of the court but also those persons - complainants and defendants, as well as arms of the State such as members of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF).
The question is for how long - and surely no one knows. There is a true saying that justice delayed is justice denied.
The word around in legal circles is that the government is looking at replacing Mr. Paryag with attorney-at-law, Jerry Seales who is currently the acting Magistrate in Grenville and St. David's for the holder of the post who is now on vacation.
If that is the case then the regime should have known a long time that it had to come up with a short-term solution to fill the void created with its own decision not to keep Mr. Paryag on the bench.
And if the truth is told, Mr. Paryag is one of the best legal minds in the country. Many things can be said about him but his knowledge of the law cannot be questioned or faulted.
There are others who came before him as Magistrates and cannot walk in his shoes where understanding and applying the law is concerned.
This newspaper has pointed out time and time again that the Mitchell government is always hell bent on having its own way and not concerned with the implications of its actions on the national pursue.
The award of close to $40, 000.00 to Janice Celestine, the former Counsel General at the Grenada Mission in New York is another waste of money.
It does not matter that the decision was not directly against the NNP government but the Agency for Reconstruction and Development (ARD).
The fact of the matter is that ARD is an arm of the State. This $40, 000.00 could have been used on the housing stock that was badly damaged during Hurricanes Ivan and Emily in the past two years.
The foreign governments and aid agencies that have contributed to the upkeep of ARD since its formation would not take too kindly to the waste of their own taxpayers money through reckless action and behaviour.
The track record of the government has been very dismal in this regards. It is there for all with eyes to see and ears to hear about it.
It owes over EC20 million dollars to Dipcon Engineering due to the action of then Communication and Works Minister, Gregory Bowen to break a legitimate contract, and another one million plus to Dorset Charles for bulldozing his water sports business on the Grand Anse beach.
In addition, the country has been placed in the precarious position of losing out on its natural resources of oil and gas through the secret deal that was signed by the Mitchell government in 1996 with U.S oil investor Jack Grynberg.
And in the 2007 budget, the government has set aside 4 million dollars to clearly help out Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Gregory Bowen in the US$500,000.00 million bribery law suit filed against him and three Russians by Grynberg.
If government ministers were being called upon to pay for some of the bad decisions that they make on behalf of the people then the situation would have been far different.
As a government, the NNP does not seem to understand that it is merely the custodian of the people's property, wealth and riches and not the true owners who can do whatever they want with those resources that have been put in their hands for care and attention.
It is time for fundamental changes to be made to the Grenada Constitution to hold the Cabinet of Ministers financially responsible for reckless actions that affect the public purse.
There is also need for term limit in order to avoid situations in which a Prime Minister and his party would get too comfortable in office and start to regard our little piece of rock as their personal estate and property.
