By Helen Grenade
I cannot understand why Prime Minister Keith C. Mitchell is so bent on proving that he is unsuitable for leadership. The people of Grenada, are apparently now coming to grips with the reality that this government no longer has the power to do what they’ve promised to do in this country that they have been misleading for so many years. Mitchell is displaying the same churlish behavior of the past. Now I ask you, how obtuse can Mitchell be? You mean to tell me that he has learnt nothing from his past mistakes.
When the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique cast their votes on election they did it, for on it hung the opportunity for them to move this country forward, which has for too long been lagging behind our neighbors it once led, forward and upward or alternatively fall even further behind and remain the laughing stock of the Caribbean. What the people of Grenada wants to see is the opportunity for unselfish people who have a sense of national pride and duty to form what is most needed, a national unity government, but regrettably the NNP politicians have not. Often been people who pay any heed to what the people they are supposed to lead really want. They mostly serve their own end and would undoubtedly replay the old tune of “Delivering”.
I maintain that the most important ingredients for a successful government of national unity are a genuine will on the part of all participants to work for the public and to have a spirit of compromise which recognizes other people’s valuable views. Have we lost our value of caring about each other? We are living in a very complicated world, changes occur faster today than ever before. We must have a mission with consistent values. It is definitely not business as usual. We have challenges ahead and we have to be prepared for the future. Who will help Grenadians project business values to the outside world?
When is the NNP government going to freeze their assessment? Our residents know that for a fact that their taxes will not be frozen at all. In fact Grenadian taxes will increase. Grenada’s Government are simply drifting without having a plan on assessment. Don’t we want our elected officials to demonstrate a sincere desire to “get it right”? Don’t we really believe that we can do better by electing individuals who have proven that they are strong, competent and caring? Shouldn’t we expect the individuals we elect to be honest with us?
The NNP government has a record of arrogance, incompetence and deceit that has left our country on the brink of financial and environmental disaster. I want to make it clear that I believe Keith C. Mitchell is a fiscal phony, who will raise our taxes dramatically. He is telling people things that are just not accurate. Grenadians as do I expected more from Mitchell, he was supposed to have brought a businessman’s analytical skills to his office. They agree, it is important to restore credibility the government doesn’t have now.
This lame duck NNP government has no credibility because time and time again this Keith Mitchell has been disingenuous, deceptive and delusional. The role of prime minister and finance minister is to instill confidence in the country’s finances. All we do now is to argue because no one has confidence in the statements coming out of Mitchell’s mouth. The question that many are asking is, have we lost our values as Grenadians? Too many negative changes are occurring within the NNP government faster than ever before. What will make us successful is our mission along with successful values, it is definitely not business as usual here in Grenada. We have challenges ahead and we must be prepared for the future. It’s imperative that our country have strong leadership to take us forward, who will help us project business values, a working economy to Grenadians and the outside world.
What we need here in our beautiful country of Grenada are strong, effective leaders with one vision, leaders who are committed, well informed with the right resources to act, honest, who are able to capitalize in the key resources at home and abroad, a political unified party whose candidates are ready and prepared to govern with honesty, effectively and efficiently. Politicians who are capable of improving the horrible conditions and creating jobs for the unemployed. Politicians who knows and have what it takes to create new areas of opportunities for businesses here in Grenada. Politicians who have the people’s needs at heart, interested in our student’s education, our people’s health and economic needs.
Our next government must be considerate of our people and believes in the future of our country. No my friends it’s not too early to start talking about the next general election. It will occur much before 2018. Without a strong economy Grenada is doomed, let’s face it people. Our seniors and children deserve better, but also the strength of our country will be measured by the strength of our people. We do not have accountability and there are no communication with this NNP government. How are we going to build a better Grenada and a better economy any time soon?
The NDC it seems is now the only political party with an effective plan, and a strong leadership is the only way to take our country beyond this hazardous situation now that they have ridden themselves of those conniving power hungry losers within the party and government. Grenada has been brought to its knees by self-centered ideologues that were foolish or deceitful enough to tell the Grenadian people that it wouldn’t be so bad if our country can’t pay our debt. The person responsible for this damage should be held accountable, he should hang his head in shame. We have not seen an accounting of how our debt will be paid.
I know I speak for the majority in our country when I express my frustration and disappointment with the current government inability to pay its debt and its impact on our people will be forced to make drastic changes as a result, the most severe will be our seniors and children. All Grenadians except the Government and their families will be impacted by the nonsense in this government to say “enough”.
But don’t worry people of Grenada, your taxes are still paid to fly the Prime Minister and ministers of his cabinet around the globe. The people of Grenada who are disappointed with the performance of this NNP government and because of its pigheaded selfishness, they have become persona non grata in Grenada. The elephant is still in the room no matter how often Keith Mitchell and his crew pretend it isn’t there. Mitchell will have to correct many of the financial problems he created, he needs to do the right thing and address the issues instead of asking the people condescendingly. Government spending is out of control, the money is being spent on them, that’s why our taxes are going up. Naturally Grenadians are panicking, and whether Mitchell like it or not, as prime Minister the buck stops with him, so the appropriate response would be to assure the people that their concerns are not falling on deaf ears and then to begin the clearly necessary work of addressing the problems with input from everyone. Ignoring the people who voted for your government when they voice concern for their family wellbeing compounds the problems and only confirms for them their sentiment that your NNP government is acting without regard for the very people it should be serving.
Yet it is not too late to set things right. It can’t be. Callously blindsiding Grenadians without preparing them for what is to come. The damage to the people’s confidence in the government may be irreparable. Hopefully Keith Mitchell will have the humility to accept that and be honest with the people. At the moment the people of Grenada needs a caring pragmatist willing to address real concerns raised by all Grenadians, who sees a government system being manipulated from the top to the detriment of all the people. The lies that Mitchell has managed to inject have confused and undermined Grenadians and our economy. But the NNP sore losers will not give up.
To resolve this issue is going to take time and a whole lot of patience that Grenadians do not have. They are flabbergasted that since Mitchell returned from his trips he has not held a town hall meeting to discuss the debt issue and answer questions. This is an incredibly poor decision on his part. Anyone involve in this government must understand, that just because you don’t like the score, doesn’t mean you can take your bat and your ball and go home. This is especially true as Mitchell not only chose the game, he set the rules by which our people will be gauged. It’s wrong.
Mitchell believes that by passing laws to undermine our democracy, he will succeed in changing people’s opinion about him. But we will use the media to point to the mistakes and abuses which are occurring, as this one – sided -government grows weaker and weaker. We will continue to publicize misbehavior by elected officials who continue to misuse their power. But ironically, Lawmakers like Mitchell never budget enough money for regulation that would prevent or catch misdeeds. You don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Corruption is happening that it is not monitored, so admittedly, we find misbehavior.
Bloated budgets due to years of extravagant spending policies is one why the government is in this mess, but because big money has prevented the passage of laws that could curb or prevent the kinds of misbehavior in the financial sector that has brought our economy to its current state, wouldn’t we love to see the those guys behind bars? Perhaps some huge fines imposed might be a glimmer of light for our economy. But that still will not induce enough of our anger to make our representatives do something about it.
(Helen is a Grenadian national living in New York. All views expressed are hers)
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