"Pressure, pressure; Keith Mitchell is the f...ing problem."

Those were the words used by several angry traffickers on the St. George's Port in the face of increased duties on their imported goods and a demand made of them to prepare for the first time entry forms for Customs.

The traffickers refused to clear their goods for several hours last Friday and made frantic attempts to meet with officials from the Ministry of Finance and Trade, and Customs Department to discuss their grievances.

In speaking to GRENADA TODAY, the traffickers said that they regarded the action taken against them as "a smart move" on the part of the cash strapped Keith Mitchell-led New National Party (NNP) Government to wipe out their weekly business.

An estimated 300 traffickers are engaged in the importation of goods like beverages, carrots, onion and potatoes into the country from neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago.

Assistant Secretary of the Grenada Traffickers Association (GTA), Steve John admitted that there was dialogue between his body and officials of  the Ministry of Finance and Trade on the issue of the implementation of the Customs Entry Form.

According to John, certain promises were made to them by the ministry but these were never fulfilled. One of the promises, he said was the training of traffickers to prepare the forms themselves so that they can do their own brokerage instead of paying the brokers operating at the port and in the process incurring additional expenses.

"They (the government) wanted to implement that months ago, and because of our dialogue with them, it was setback along with VAT (Value Added Tax)," he added."That document that they are requiring from traffickers can only be done effectively with CARICOM documents which traffickers cannot get because there are agents in Grenada for those goods (that we are bringing in from Trinidad). And here we are expected to make out entries to clear our goods," he said.

The traffickers are claiming that the CARICOM documents can only be sourced directly from the agents or manufacturers in Trinidad from where the goods are purchased.

..... MP Peter David lends an ear

However, the local traffickers say in most cases they obtain their goods from second and third parties who are in no position to provide them with the required CARICOM documents. John said that apart from the problem of the entry forms for customs, they are now also faced with "some ridiculous new prices."

He stated that the Customs Department had promised sometime ago to submit a list of the new prices to be charged on their imports but that this would be done in advance so that they (the traffickers) can study it.

The GTA executive member pointed out that his members are now seeing over 100% increases in duties on their imported goods. He said that a bag of breeze which a trafficker will make a $12.00 profit on, "we are now expected to pay $30.00 to clear it without the CARICOM documents".

"We are now expected to pay $85.00 to clear one case of sweets which is rather ridiculous. Take for example, an item as carrot which we used to be paying ten dollars to have cleared, (it) has now moved to $48.60, with a permit," he remarked. John disclosed that there was agreement in meetings with the  Customs Department that whenever the price list is to be revised it should first be made available to the Traffickers Association for review.

He felt that the Mitchell government is seeking to push aside the traffickers to make way for the larger business operators on the island."They (the larger business) feel they are the ones to be selling and we should be the ones to be buying," he said.

Speculation is rife that if the traffickers business is eliminated then hundreds of families on the island would be affected. John, a former police officer, said that the weekly trafficking trade to Trinidad has been playing an integral part in helping to curb delinquent behaviour in the country.

"If people have money in their pockets, then we will reduce on our crime rate because they would not have to steal to have money, and this is one of the things that the trafficking trade is taking care of - delinquents in society," he said."The big businessmen do not cater for (delinquents because (these people) do not have the qualifications to earn a job with the bigger businessman, so the traffickers are the ones catering for that. And even if they have the qualifications, in some cases they have no job," added a group of traffickers.

Trustee of the Traffickers Association, Allan Tobin gave a breakdown on the prices they will have to pay the brokers to clear their goods from the port. He said they are required to pay ten dollars for the form, $5.50 in stamps and then pay the broker another additional set of money which may vary from trafficker to trafficker.

In addition, the traffickers also have to pay five dollars to obtain a licence for certain category of imported goods. Tobin said there is no way the traffickers can compete with the big businesses on the island because they can import thousand of cases while the small traffickers are only able to import about ten cases of items at one particular time.

A female trafficker who also chose to comment on the issue spoke of the number of people who depend on the trafficking trade including the truck drivers. She said that most traffickers have no alternative means of employment in Grenada and depend on the trade for their survival and existence.

"They are killing us. In other words, we are the roaches and the big boys are the fowls," she added. The female trafficker said that they can no longer trust the words of Prime Minister Mitchell.

"The Prime Minister said that they (the government) want to promote small business, to have small business people be established and help themselves."We are all small business people, but what we have are the Goddards who come from Barbados, because Hubbards is now  Goddard, Bryden and Minors is Goddard.

"They are saying that we are taking their business. What amount of business could these traffickers here, bringing in four crates, take from these conglomerates?" "The small Grenadian people cannot own anything now. What you have to do now if you have to survive, sell drugs, prostitution and crime?

It is estimated that an individual trafficker will pump approximately $5,000.00 on a weekly basis into the local economy. Another trafficker told GRENADA TODAY that the value placed on her goods which included two bottles of dish washer, a bag of potatoes and a bag of onions, along with two cases of orchard juice was $235.00. In addition, she still has to pay the broker a further $50.00 for his services.

Opposition Member of Parliament for the Town of St. George, Peter David was called out to the St. George's Port on Friday by the protesting traffickers. David, a member of the main position National Democratic Congress (NDC), said he feared that the problems being faced by the traffickers will further increase the cost of living in Grenada.

He charged that the Mitchell government has now found itself in a position where its mismanagement has left the Treasury without money and it was now trying to put the burden of raising money on the backs of poor people.

The NNP has moved the national debt from an estimated $370 million dollars in mid-1995 to over $1.5 billion dollars in 12 years in office.