COMMENTARY
By Max Sterling
Last weekend's editorial of the GRENADA TODAY must have been a real jolt for the new administration in St. George's.
People like Lloyd Noel, Anslem Clouden, Chester Humphrey, Glenn Noel, Michael Baptiste and Eddie Frederick must be well pleased with George Worme Editor of Grenada's leading newspaper Grenada Today.
All the people who consider any of these names mentioned as NDC supporters must be having a second thought especially in light of Worme's pointed editorial.
The message is clear as not because efforts were made to rid Grenada of the malady which Grenadians became accustomed to as government in St. George's under the most inferior leadership in the history of Grenada for the period June 1995 to July, 2008 that people are necessarily supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
I am one who deeply believe that opposition groups never win elections in as much as incumbents lose them.
This could not be "truer" in Grenada's case since the corrupt dictatorial nastiness which posed as Government in Grenada ably led by Dr. Keith Mitchell was booted out of office on account of the grave contempt he and his group showed the Grenadian people over the years with all his bold faced lies and deceit he dished out via the television, radio, newspapers and Face to Face.
The new administration in St. George's under decent leadership ought to be mindful that their struggles are two pronged in that they have to build back all the institutions this man sought to destroy over the thirteen years he was in office while seeking to balance the national budget, and at the same time work hard to convert the protest vote against Mitchell and his "kleptocracy" into genuine support for them.
While those two areas have got to be the priority for the administration there are other bonus priorities which are important to the people of Grenada as they relate to dismantling his inferior structure within the Public Service beginning with the immediate replacement of all his facilitators in the Public Service to include the main one in Government House as soon as Parliament is convened and all others whether it be at the level of Cabinet Secretary whom many Cabinet Ministers ought to be afraid to speak openly in the presence of, and all the Permanent Secretaries who were known to have been handpicked and whose very appointments helped to inferiorise the service at the highest level.
All ambassadors whether in Caracas, London, Beijing, Washington, New York, Brussels, Cuba, CARICOM must be recalled and the few Career Civil Servants in their midst put on a desk back home to work whether as Clerk of Parliament, or whatever else.
All the others with contracts whether one, two or three month exit clauses should be paid off and the change people voted for take full effect with a new and competent slate.
I want to take this opportunity to offer a suggestion which would reinforce the competence of Ms. Ruth Rouse, a former High Commissioner to London.
Miss Rouse ought to be considered as Chief Co-ordinator/ Liaison for the Diplomatic Corp and be put in charge of coming up with a comprehensive orientation programme to introduce the new crop of diplomats to the field.
If it becomes necessary for her to travel around and spend time in a practical way orienting each Ambassador to the terms of reference of the job so be it.
By the time she is through with that assignment, the new culture of governance would have taken root and if necessary she could be considered for a posting all over again if she so desires.
All for now, she ought not to be considered for any diplomatic position as she is perceived to be a facilitator of Mitchell while she was in London.
I want to offer another suggestion in order to save on expenses. Cuba and Venezuela are both in the region and CARICOM is important to us. All three embassies ought to be combined and probably headquartered in Caracas. A strong support structure must be developed within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make this new focus a success.
Careful prosecution of Mitchell for his wanton misbehaviour in public office ought to be another priority which can act as the icing on the cake in order to have him disbanded from local politics once and for all.
The harbouring of fugitives like Viktor Kozeny the Pirate of Prague, The First Bank crooks - Van Brink, Larry Barnabe, Lawrence Rowe, Rita Regale, etc; his experience with Eric Resteiner where he was allegedly videotaped by Timothy Bass receiving a balance of payment of US $500,000 in $100 bills in a Louis Vuitton briefcase at Resteiner's St. Moritz home in Switzerland; his abuse of the national purse especially with Vote 340, during the thirteen year life of his administration, etc., etc., etc.
While the Thomas administration is at it they must spread their dragnet to sweep out all facilitators who aided and abetted the culture of corruption which took over Grenada as if to state clearly none shall escape.
I am sure that Prime Minister Thomas recognizes that if his administration listens to people like George Worme, Chester Humphrey, Lloyd Noel, Anslem Clouden, Eddie Frederick, and one of the most outstanding politicians on the block Michael Baptiste, together with yours truly they would do well as these are people who come with tremendous goodwill and influence who have the country at heart and who made the necessary sacrifice in the open (not in the dark) to take the fight to Mitchell for all of the thirteen years he's been in office and paid a heavy price.
The combination of forces which came together to fight Mitchell must at least be considered and factored in to some extent in most if not all of the crucial decisions being made in the country.
It is important to note that isolation of these well meaning strong and committed citizens may see the new administration alone making unnecessary mistakes which could turn around and bite them in their behinds.
I have too much confidence in the integrity of some of the people in the current government for me to think they would isolate those who sacrificed in the fight against NNP and their brand of nastiness.
I want to take this opportunity to state emphatically that former Opposition Leader Michael Baptiste showed maturity and statesmanship during the last election campaign by walking to the other side without making any demands of them and delivered so profoundly.
He deserves to be seriously considered for a very important award for his contribution to the process of change in Grenada. His contribution no doubt helped to deliver Grenada from the jaws of the local devil who became so obsessed with power that he thought Grenada was his. Michael Baptiste I join the many Grenadians who salute you.
On the subject of corruption I want the legal dragnet to spread to the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and investigate that entity thoroughly. Find the woman who used to walk around with Lotto's cheque book as if it were hers.
I understand that even a former Minister who fell on hard times managed to get his utilities paid with a lotto cheque. Should this be found to be true that woman ought to be charged and prosecuted.
While we are at it has the membership of that board resigned yet? If they have not the Ministry of Sports under whose aegis Lotto falls needs to address that by demanding their resignations and ask them to stand by to answer questions relating to accountability for their stewardship over the years.
I have already told the new administration that if they listen to those of us who struggled over the years at great sacrifice to rid this country of Mitchell's Kleptocracy they would do well as who feels it knows it!
