GRENADA WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT FOR MARCH 15 - 21, 2009

UNCLAS GRENADA 000024 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR EFIN ECON PREL EPET GJ SUBJECT: GRENADA WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT FOR MARCH 15 - 21, 2009 ¶1. Embassy Grenada's weekly report (GWAR) provides a little detail about events of interest that do not merit longer reporting at this time. ¶2. Begin GWAR text: a) PM Meets with LIAT Prime Minister Tillman Thomas met with a team of senior officials from the regional air carrier Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT),to discuss a wide range of issues including airlift, tourism and other matters specific to the airline's operations in Grenada. The Government of Grenada was urged to play a greater role in LIAT, since the success of regional integration efforts depended on the transportation links that allow people to move from one country to another. The Prime Minister said his government is committed to regional institutions and promised to provide whatever support was possible and necessary for improving the operations of the regional carrier. b) GOG to Borrow US$7.5m Parliament approved a measure to allow the Government of Grenada (GOG) to borrow US$7.5 million from local commercial banks as part of a plan to stimulate the economy. Finance Minister Nazim Burke said that the money would be injected into key sectors of the economy and would also provide counterpart funding for donor-sponsored projects. While Burke said some of the money will be used to assist the farmers, road workers, small businesses, young people, and kidney dialysis, and for many other economic and social activities, the language of the bill does not specify any recipients so some are concerned the funds will not be well used. Grenada, like other Caribbean countries, has started to feel the effects of the global economic crisis. c) EEZ Boundary Commission Meets The first meeting of the joint Grenada - Trinidad and Tobago Exclusive Economic Zone Boundary Commission took place in Trinidad on March 19-20. Previous negotiations between the two countries in the 1990's were inconclusive. Grenada hopes that once outstanding boundary disputes are settled not only with Trinidad but also with Venezuela, it will benefit from the extraction of gas and oil suspected to be out there. d) RSM-Bowen Saga Finally Over The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled last week in favor of Grenada in its dispute with RSM Production. RSM had claimed that Grenada in 1996 blocked its efforts to get a license to explore for oil and natural gas off the coast of Grenada after the company refused to pay a bribe to then-Minister for Agriculture Gregory Bowen. The case has dragged on for many years, with RSM losing in two court cases it filed against Bowen and several Russian investors. The ICSID ruling really does end the company's hopes as it declared that Grenada did not breach any of its obligations to RSM Production in failing to issue a license as the obligation lapsed on March 28, 2004. It further ruled that the 1996 agreement between Grenada and RSM was lawfully terminated on July 5, 2005. This ruling should finally allow Grenada to pursue other investors to explore its offshore waters for exploitable natural resources. Assuming of course, it successfully negotiates its maritime boundaries with Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. MCISAAC