Archive
| SUCCESSFUL AND HISTORIC TOWN HALL MEETINGS |
 |
 |
| GRENADA NEWS | |
| Wednesday, 29 April 2009 10:06 | |
|
By Foxy Stewart The Town Hall meetings were a very historic event, the first of their kind in Carriacou and Petite Martinique. The Carriacou and Petite Martinique NDC Youth Organisation congratulates all the ministers of government who took the time off to attend this event. We will like to especially congratulate the Hon. Prime Minister for braving the high seas aboard the Osprey to be with his people; Hon. Nazim Burke, Minister of Finance; Hon. Senator George W. Prime, Minister for Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs; Hon. Patrick Simmons, Minister of Youth Empowerment, Culture and Sports; Hon. Karl Hood, Minister of Health; Hon. Sylvester Quarless, Minister of State in the Ministry of Works; Hon. Michael Church, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Acting Minister of Agriculture; and Hon. Glen Noel, Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Chairman of the National Democratic Congress.
For the Ministers who were unable to attend this historic event this time around, we hope that when the next Town Hall is scheduled you will be present. We especially missed the Hon. Peter David, Minister for Tourism and Foreign Affairs; Hon. Glynis Roberts, Minister of Labour Social Services; Hon. Franca Bernadine, Minister of Education and Human Resources; and our favourite local "homeboy" the Hon. Arley Gill, Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Culture and Sports.
The NDC Youth Organisation also would like to say special thanks to all the folks who made this event possible, particularly Kim the King and Kayak Radio for the live broadcast. As well our thanks go out to Barbara Charles, Acting Principal of the Hillsborough Government School for facilitating the Prime Minister and his team; Permanent Secretary Bernadette Lendore Sylvester; Anderson Matheson PA; Public Relations Officer Deanna Isaac; members of the Ministry of Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs and the people of Petite Martinique.
The Youth Organisation is truly proud of the scores of supporters of the National Democratic Congress and other political parties that took the time off to attend the Town Hall meetings, which were a great success. The speeches by the Prime Minister, the Minister for Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs, and the Finance Minister were well received by the energised audience.
Prime Minister Thomas and Finance Minister Burke explained in details to the current state of the nation's economy and what the government has done so far. And they outlined what the NDC administration intends to do to make life easier for the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
It is clear that 13 years of gross mismanagement, lack of accountability, wastage of public funds, and a national debt of over 1.6 billion dollars created by the defeated NNP administration – and the current world economic recession – are having dire economic consequences on the Tri-island State. With so many of our young people unemployed, we welcome the government's attempt at stimulating the national economy. It will not be easy, but we are confident that the administration will provide the leadership to pull all of us through these tough economic times. This situation wasn't created by the nine-month-old NDC administration but by 13 years of NNP recklessness and the current global crisis.
Many questions were asked by the audience on a number of issues such as agriculture, lands, sports and tourism. The NDC Youth Organisation was a bit disappointed that known supporters of the opposition forces who were at the Town Hall meeting didn't participate actively in the discussions, but rather engaged in gossip among themselves.
It was also disappointing that the Parliamentary Representative for Carriacou and Petite Martinique didn't have the courage to attend this forum. He really let down his constituents; he let them down in the same fashion that he had done in the 13 years that he was Minister for Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs. It would have been really interesting to see the Parliamentary Representative Hon. Elvin Nimrod, in an open forum like this, posing a question to Prime Minister Hon. Tillman Thomas and his cabinet of ministers on government’s plans and programs for the development of Carriacou and Petite Martinique. Elvin Nimrod has absolutely nothing to offer and as such he chose to stay away from a very successful and historic event. This is indicative of the type of parliamentary representation that he continues to provide to the people of Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
The Carriacou and Petite Martinique NDC Youth Organisation commends the government on its efforts so far, especially the removal of the National Reconstruction Levy (NRL); introducing the tax amnesty; paying out millions in unpaid claims that the NNP refused to pay; the stimulus package; and the management of the economy which has resulted in Grenada’s credit ratings moving up 10 places. We are anxiously awaiting the coming on stream of the newly introduced Youth Program. As an organisation it is our hope that this isn't in the fashion of the previous Imani program, but it will be designed, implemented and monitored to meet the physical, mental, social and spiritual needs of ALL our young people. Thirteen years of NNP didn't work for our young people.
There are still too many young people in Carriacou and Petite Martinique unemployed and not fully educated. It would have been worthwhile to have the presence of the Hon. Franca Bernadine at the Town Hall meetings. There are too many problems with the education system in Carriacou and Petite Martinique. They affect our young people and must be seriously address and dealt with. The local administrator of education and our education officer need to STEP UP and show greater interest in the education of our young people. Government can't just afford to spend the scare resources of the State without getting the desired outcomes. Education must be at the centre of national development and change.
We are encouraging our youth to also step up and rise to the occasion. It was nice to see so many young people attending the forum. One of the most memorable occurrences at the even was when a young lady, Amanda Mitchell, posed a question to Minister Simmons and Minister Burke. The two ministers highly commended Ms. Mitchell on her questioning.
The NDC Youth Organisation is looking forward to other Town Hall-styled events in Carriacou and Petite Martinique. We are also encouraging the Hon. George Prime to commence his own Town Hall meetings in the various polling divisions in Carriacou and Petite Martinique. The voices of the youth must be heard.
The Carriacou and Petite Martinique NDC Youth Organisation strongly supports the Tillman Thomas-lead NDC administration and is calling on the people of Carriacou and Petite Martinique to do the same. We have tried 13 years of NNP and they failed us. It is time to go for THE CHANGE!
Once again, our thanks to the NDC administration for opening our eyes by being accountable to, WE THE PEOPLE!
Editorial Note: We invite commentaries which can be e-mailed to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
We reserve the right to edit commentaries for length, to correct grammatical errors, etc.
|