St. George’s, Grenada, June 9th 2010: Contrary to statements made by Prime Minister, Hon Tillman Thomas, and other members of the NDC administration, officials of the Ministry of Finance have confirmed that the $6M donated to Grenada by the Government and People of Venezuela were used for the purposes intended.

At a recent meeting of the Public Accounts Committee, officials from the Ministry of Finance responded to a question regarding the use of the funds.  The Public Officers informed the meeting that the monies received from Venezuela totaled $6M and were deposited in the Consolidated Fund.  The total amount they explained were spent on the two projects for which they were earmarked, namely Phase 2 of the General Hospital & the La Calome Project in St. David.

 Opposition members noted that this is just another attempt of the Tillman Thomas administration to mislead the Grenadian public by falsely accusing the previous Government of Corruption. Former Prime Minister Dr. the Rt. Hon. Keith Mitchell reiterated that it is totally unacceptable that a government in power should have to resort to such immoral behaviour to gain political support.

He said the Government continues to make wild accusations knowing that their claims are false and malicious. “What is unfortunate” he said, “ is that the NDC will never do the right thing and apologize for those false accusations but they continue in their attempt to further mislead Grenadians and to distract them from the reality of the economic and social situation in the country which has deteriorated significantly since the NDC assumed office in 2008.” 

Dr. Mitchell also noted that a similar accusation was made by the current Minister for Sports when he stated that monies donated to Grenada for the development of Progress Park could not have been accounted for. He said the Minister is yet to make a public apology or a statement after he found out that his statement was not only incorrect but could have brought into disrepute the good name of the former Minister for Sports, the Hon. Roland Bhola.

The people of Grenada must therefore be mindful that the present NDC administration will utilize all means to discredit the good work of the NNP Government in light of the growing opposition to their failed policies and their inability to fulfill their promises to the people of Grenada.