St. George’s, March 6, 2012 – Lawyer and former Grenada Attorney General, Lloyd Noel, says he is concerned about “the happenings and the operations taking place in the constituency of St Patrick West,’’ which is represented in parliament by Hon. Joseph Gilbert.

Gilbert, who won the seat in 2008 on an NDC ticket, was dismissed from cabinet in January by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas over a letter the former minister penned to a foreign investor who has interest in obtaining a gaming licence in Grenada.

But that may not be the end of the saga. Indications are that Gilbert is among a group of current MPs that the Prime Minister would like to replace as NDC candidates in general elections that are constitutionally due in 2013.

Noel, in his weekly column on the internet site, Caribbean News Now, said Gilbert “seems to still have the support of the people in St Patrick West.’’

Noel noted that two issues in St. Patrick – the “Mt Reuil Estate mismanagement on the one hand,’’ and the “De Gale Estate lands, part of which has been earmarked for a playing field and the building of a community centre for the constituency, on the other hand – have been the centre of controversy between the prime minister and MP Gilbert as to what has been taking place and what is the current position.’’

The former Attorney General is at a lost understanding “why the prime minister, or the minister responsible for agriculture and lands, is not coming forward and telling the nation in general and especially the people in the St Patrick West constituency, who are more particularly concerned about what is really going on, exactly what is happening in both cases.’’

Noel also commented on the disclosure from Finance Minister Nazim Burke and Christopher DeRiggs, Director of Private Sector Development in the Finance Ministry, on plans to launch a programme that would allow foreign investors to acquire Grenadian passports, as well as residency and citizenship status.

According to Noel, Burke was giving “full details of what are still mere proposals from his ministry.’’

He also referred to reports that a letter, written by DeRiggs, had been dispatched “to a foreign company giving them the assurance of resident status in Grenada – through a scheme that has not even been discussed in cabinet.’’

“And to add insult to injury,’’ said Noel, “the letter written by the official was copied to the minister who is the boss of the ministry. So is the situation any different from that which took place in the ministry of works – and about which Minister Gilbert was sacked?’’

Meanwhile, the opposition New National Party (NNP) has joined the discussion on what Burke had described as the Grenada Individual Investor Programme (GIIP).

The party, which was booted from office in 2008, itself had its own initiative – the Economic Citizenship Programme – that was mired in controversy and was eventually suspended.

However, an NNP statement said the party is “deeply concerned’’ that the current administration “may be seeking to reintroduce an Economic Citizenship Programme – without legal authority, a careful plan, or the normal cabinet discussions.’’

GIIP, as outlined by Burke, “seems designed to break our laws, deplete our political culture and undermine our political institutions,’’ the NNP said.

“We accordingly call upon Prime Minister Tillman Thomas to protect our institutions as is his duty to do – beginning with a national address on the subject, such that he may see the dangers of which we warn.’’

The opposition, which is headed by former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, said it is worried that “an ill-planned GIIP could both undermine our institutions and frustrate our national objectives. It is against this backdrop that the NNP calls on the Prime Minister to urgently address the nation on the GIIP – and to begin to shoulder his duties as first among equals in his cabinet.’’

Reports are that government has now placed the proposed GIIP on hold.