EDITORIAL

There is too much partisan politics by the governing New National Party (NNP) of Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell in matters that concern the welfare of all and sundry in Grenada.

The evidence is there for all to see that the Mitchell administration has been engaged in a deliberate policy to politicise if not all but most national organs and institutions. The annual carnival celebration is ample testimony for anyone who is looking for proof of the vulgar manner in which the current government has been ill advised and unfortunately meddling in the affairs of our cultural product.

The NNP was in typical form in the manner in which it distributed relief supplies to Grenadians in dire need in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. When the hurricane passed through our island, it did not look for supporters of the Green or Yellow to blow off their roofs.Ivan affected just about every family on the island in some way.

However, when the relief started to come into Grenada from outside, the trucks that left the SSU camp at Point Salines were often under the command of NNP operatives in St. Mark's, St. John's to a lesser extent and their supporters in some of the St. Andrew's constituencies.

In recent days, GRENADA TODAY has received disturbing information about a directive that was given by a senior officer in the Office of the Prime Minister with respect to the distribution of aid to the people who suffered distress due to the heavy rains last week in St. Andrew North-west.

We invite our readers to look at the story that appears on Page 18 in this current issue of the newspaper. We are far from impressed by the answers given to our queries by both Supt. Sylvan Mc Intyre and Permanent Secretary Elizabeth Greenidge-Henry to our question on whether NaDMA had been directed to channel the blankets to residents of that particular constituency through the NNP Caretaker for the area.

Imagine that Mr. Mc Intyre is supposed to be the Co-ordinator of the agency and is trying to tell us that he is not aware of how the blankets were distributed. There is supposed to be a network of NaDMA agents in each constituency throughout Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique performing specific duties such as the distribution of supplies to those in need.

And the goodly gentleman promised to call us back with the specific information on whether NaDMA did the distribution of blankets itself or whether the NNP Caretaker for the Constituency was the conduit for the assistance to the people. Supt. Mc Intyre, we are still waiting on you for the answer to our question.

NaDMA should not be used in a partisan political manner since the assistance given to the agency by donors is for the good and welfare of all Grenadians regardless of colour, creed, class or political affiliation. It is sad that so many civil servants in this country allow themselves to be manipulated by politicians who get them to do their bidding for mere pittance.

The just-concluded Commission of Inquiry into the Switzerland Briefcase affair involving Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell saw several civil servants on the receiving end of remarks made by sole Commissioner, Dr. Richard Cheltenham. The Commissioner choose to castigate civil servants for the manner in which convicted criminals like Eric Resteiner were appointed to diplomatic posts to represent Grenada's interest abroad.

It is a known fact, which cannot be disputed, that all the questionable characters that ended up with diplomatic positions such as Viktor Kozeny (The Pirate of Prague) did not wined and dined with civil servants but members of the NNP hierarchy like Prime Minister Mitchell.

It was the politicians who brokered the deals with the crooks and opened the doors of Grenada for them to be engaged in their conmanship all over the world. And at the end of the day, it is the civil servants who have to sign the documents for these infamous people to be accredited diplomatic status as our representatives.

This is why GRENADA TODAY is sending a reminder to the likes of Supt. Mc Intyre and PS Greenidge-Henry to be careful in the manner in which they discharge their duties as public officers. There might be a day of reckoning and not too long from now for those who disregard and disrespect our national institutions. The sad reality is that some civil servants are themselves engaged in wrongdoing and cannot resist those politicians who force them to do their dirty bidding.

An investigation into NaDMA might be quite revealing in terms of whether there are employees within the agency who profit from the hiring of their own trucks to move supplies to and from the office to different points around the island.