The nation has just celebrated another birthday.
It is now 34 years since Premier Eric Matthew Gairy took the bold step with his Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) government to break the colonial ties with Great Britain and create history for himself by becoming the first Prime Minister of the newly independent Nation State.
There were many who opposed independence under Sir Eric for all sorts of reasons.
However, it is heartening to see that if not these people themselves but their children and grand-children now openly embracing our independence and what it means for us as a people.
Sir Eric, wherever he is at the moment must be taking a lot of comfort to see that a new generation of Grenadians are trying to take up the torch and bring the country to a new and higher level.
He must be agonising over the demise of his own party which is nearing its 60th birthday and showing no signs of being able to recapture State power in the foreseeable future.
Our Father of Independence will not be too happy with the ongoing conflict between rival groups in GULP as they try to walk in his boots which seem to be too big for any of the pretenders to the throne.
Sir Eric will also be shocked to see and hear of the many negatives which befell our country after 34 years of independence.
He did predict that the man who ousted him from power on March 13, 1979 in a coup d'etat would leave power the same way that he took State power.
And indeed Maurice Bishop was gunned down by his own comrades some four-and-a-half years later as they attempted to take the country further along the road of marxism-leninism - an alien ideology in our part of the world.
If Sir Eric was around today, he would have walked all over the current holder of the Office of Prime Minister, Keith Claudius Mitchell who is once again trying to hoodwink Grenadians with his election campaign theme: "Let the progress continue".
How can we 34 years after independence "let the progress continue" given the mountain of negatives in the last 14 years of rule by Prime Minister Mitchell and his New National Party (NNP) government?
Can we let the progress continue when it was the NNP through its recklessness in the offshore financial services sector that created the condition for Canada to impose a visa restriction on all Grenadians travelling to the North american country to help improve their livelihood?
The country needs to change that and get people with character and integrity to engage the Canadians with a view to reversing that policy decision by Ottawa.
Gone are the days when our people could just jump on a plane and enter Canada without a visa and work for half of the year to earn some badly needed money to send back home to help improve the lot of family members.
Can we subscribe to the theme of "Let the progress continue" when we remember the bad decision taken by Deputy Prime Minister, Gregory Bowen on the Dipcon issue?
It is costing the taxpayers over 24 million dollars after the law courts ruled that the NNP had breached the legal contract signed with Dipcon by a previous administration and the company should be handsomely compensated.
Why should be "Let the Progress continue" when the NNP through its reckless action bulldozed the water sports business on Grand Anse beach of small businessman, Dorset Charles?
Today, the taxpayers of this country owe Mr. Charles in excess of two million dollars due to this uncaring action of Dr. Mitchell and company. We need to show more love and understanding for the plight of the small man in our society.
The country has seen its image at the international level take a serious nose dive in light of charges brought in U.S courts against its two most senior government officials - Prime Minister Mitchell and his deputy, Minister Bowen. Is that the progress we want to see continue after 34 years of independence?
Sir Eric despite his many shortcomings and faults would have never travelled to the home of a crook all the way in St. Moritz, Switzerland to collect money whether in a briefcase, envelope, pants pocket or wherever.
The Father of Independence had too many class to engage in such low-level behaviour.
Is it any wonder that some of our leaders are now being called thieves in the corridors of powers within the English-speaking Caribbean itself because of their perceived greed for money? We need to change that image.
Grenada needs a Prime Minister who can be at peace with himself whenever he is no longer in office. He must be able to hold his head high and not be subjected to "prosecution" in or outside the country for deeds committed while in power.
We need to change that image of our country in time for the 35th anniversary of our independence.
May God continue to bless our nation and remove the veil from those still living in darkness.
This is the wish of GRENADA TODAY for the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique who are committed to a democracy that is based on good government, transparency, accountability, and value for money with their tax dollars.
