2023 Special Reports

Secrecy of Undeclared Gifts a Heavy Burden

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December 2022 exposed a practice that questioned the effectiveness of one of the anti-corruption measures instituted in accordance with the Public Life Act. That act guides the actions of public servants in Grenada while the “gift registry” is one of the accountability mediums for people who hold public office. 

It was in December 2022 that Richard Duncan, Chairman of the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Committee returned a “Christmas gift” to Bo Xu, Chief Executive Officer, Mt Hartman Development Ltd. In the return to sender letter, Duncan explained that “The value of the above-mentioned items is incongruent with the Grenada Citizenship by Investment code of business conduct and ethics policy.”  There is no evidence that such a policy was ever published in gazette as part of the Public Life regulation but Section 45, Sub-section one of the Integrity in 2013 Public Life Act says, “A person in public life shall not accept any gift or reward from any person.” 

Lawyer Gillian Bristol who was appointed as the third chairperson of the Integrity Commission said the Public Life law  provides guidance, but the onus is on the person in public life to conduct themselves “so they will not breach what is in the Act.”

Referring specifically to Section 45 subsection 2(b) of the legislation, Bristol says out that the one exception that accepting a gift from a “dignitary” to ensure that a foreign officer is not offended. Bristol said that the law provides for that gift such gift must “to be registered with the Commission”. Despite the limitation, the act says that a public officer can accept gifts from:

(a) a community organisation on a social occasion which represents the creativity of that organisation; and

(b) a foreign dignitary, where the person in public life has reasonable grounds to believe that the refusal to accept the gift may offend the foreign dignitary”

The Public Life Act also instructs, that a person in public life who accepts a “gift or a reward” “shall make a report to the Commission of that fact in the prescribed manner within seven days of the receipt of the gift.” There is much uncertainty about the number of gifts given to, received or refused by public officials since the gift registry became operational in 2019.

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Climate

Making a Case for Heat Advisory Watches and Warnings

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In the middle of what is traditionally described as the wet or rain season, Grenadians for the first time had to take personal measures to deal with heatwave weather advisories that for some are only heard during the weather segment on USA news networks. “This weekend is forecast to have lower cloud cover, lighter temperature compared to the last few days. Dress appropriately, stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water, avoid closed spaces, look after the young and old,” was the advisory published by both the Met Office and the National Disaster Management Agency. Explaining that such an advisory will be issued when temperature occurs for two consecutive days beyond the statistical marker of 31.7 degrees Celsius, Gerard Tamar, Head of the Meteorological Office at the Maurice Bishop International Airport said that these advisories are aimed at warning citizens about the weather condition and the need for them to take personal care. The heat advisory warnings were preceded by days and nights of high air temperature which had citizens complaining about the humidity.

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Caribbean's War on Guns

Gun Crime Grows Slowly, but Greater Priority Urged

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St George’s, Grenada – The year 2023 appears to be a record-breaking year for illegal firearm possession in Grenada. In the process the Police have confiscated almost double the number of guns impounded for the first six months of 2022 than those seized in all of 2023. 

“Statistics show that in 2022 for the first six months 16 firearms were confiscated while for 2023 that number for the same period is 31,” said Dickon Mitchell who is not only prime minister but also the minister for national security. “This points to a dangerous trend of increasing firearms in our communities,” he said, while announcing that the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) has adopted a “zero tolerance” approach to illegal firearm possession. “Zero tolerance” says Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell

“We don’t only intend to strengthen community policing and community engagement, but we are interested in getting to the root issues that are being manifested in violence in our communities,” he told CIJN. Possession of illegal guns or firearms has been rising over the years, according to police records, but at the same time, there is not a significant increase in guns being used as the weapon of choice to kill and assault citizens or to commit other violent crimes.

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2023 Special Reports
A photo of a vaccine vial and vaccination needle

HPV Vaccine: A Positive Hope for the Future in the Battle Against Cervical Cancer

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Recalling the death of her mother in 2023, two years after her passing, was not the easiest of memory for Ann-Jell Joseph-Mapp. Her mother Veronica Joseph died from cervical cancer four years after she was diagnosed. “Her death was not a shock because we, the children, learned about her cervical cancer diagnosed about four years before her death; but still, it was a long, hard and painful journey,” Joseph-Mapp said, while pointing out that as the eldest daughter, she became the provider and caregiver for her mother. “My two brothers miss her a lot but they don’t speak about it much…her grandchildren miss her very much as she used to take them everywhere,” said Joseph-Mapp, who is still making adjustments to her personal life following the loss of her mother. Her mom was only 64 years when she died.

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2023 Special Reports

Thousands Lost to Debit/Credit Card Fraud in Grenada 

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Businesswoman Dawseanne Williams did not foresee credit card fraud in her future when she made a simple and routine deposit into her local bank using one of its Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) in September 2022. 

In her rush to get home, Ms. Williams forgot to remove her card from the machine. Her folly triggered an excruciating episode that played out in a magistrate court where a young female suspect incurred a criminal record for the crime and the stolen returned to the owner. Business woman Dawseanne Williams

“As I was driving home, I began getting automatic bank alerts informing me about the amount of money deducted from my account for transactions, but I was driving home, I knew I was not conducting any transaction, so I stopped the car and checked my purse and to my astonishment, the card was not in my purse,” Ms. Williams recalled. “I had left it at the machine or loss it, it was a Friday night, so my option was to notify the bank but by the time I did I had lost more than EC$2000, and my hard earn cash was disappearing before my eyes and it appears that my options were limited to stop the transaction,” she continued. The bank with whom Ms. Williams has her account states on its website, under loss and stolen card, that it is the responsibility of the holder to safeguard the debit card.

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Caribbean CBIs

Grenada

Where CBI Answered an Economic SOS

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When the Grenada Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme was launched in August 2013, it was believed by many to be the only way to save the island from an economic downfall. 

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell pushed the passport scheme in 2013 as his government battled economic struggles whipped up by the global financial downturn. Government declared that the programme would become a main source of revenue to help develop the island and pay outstanding debt to international creditors and lending agencies. 

The programme offers individuals the ability to buy its passport in as few as 60 days at a minimum cost of  USD $150,000 USD in addition to USD $8,000 processing fees. In 2018, five years after the programme started, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of an overreliance on CBI inflows, noting that the programme accounted for 4.5 per cent of GDP in 2017:

“Further improve mechanisms for monitoring the proceeds of CBI inflows and recording all flows through the consolidated fund on budget to improve fiscal management and reporting,” was a major red flag from the IMF, which also asserted that “strict enforcement of the due diligence process of the CBI program are critical for Grenada’s continued stable access to cross-border bank payments”.(https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2018/236/002.2018.issue-236-en.xml)

Source: IM Daily https://www.imidaily.com

The CBI program based on projections in the budget estimate is expected to remain a vital earner for Grenada’s economy. Red Flags

By law, the identity of beneficiaries under the programme is a tightly kept secret – just one of the restrictions that raises a transparency red flag for a programme that plays a major role in raising cash and investments to boost economic growth. 

Grenada is just one of five countries in the English-speaking Caribbean to offer the programme. Through these schemes, non-nationals can purchase citizen status after making financial commitments to invest in real estate or special funds set up by the governments. 

But there have been longstanding concerns by citizens, local anti-corruption lobbyists and powerful development partners in Europe and North America that the passport schemes could be abused to shield bad actors like money launderers and terrorism financiers.

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