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