GRENADA WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT: APRIL 26 - MAY 2, 2009

UNCLAS GRENADA 000042 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SOCI ENRG PREL ELAB SUBJECT: GRENADA WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT: APRIL 26 - MAY 2, 2009 Grenada Weekly Activity Report April 26 - May 2, 2009 a. Grenadian students in Mexico Following an outbreak of N1H1 flu in Mexico, Grenadian students there were sent guidelines and a donation of face masks to protect themselves. A network was established to communicate with all Grenadian students in Mexico through two of them. In Grenada there are mixed feelings from both government and public regarding whether it is safest to bring the students home or to leave them where they are until the situation becomes clearer. b. MinFin Says PetroCaribe Not Paying Public Servants Grenada's Finance Minster Nazim Burke brushed aside rumors that monies from the PetroCaribe fund were being used to pay public servants. Speaking during a post-cabinet media briefing, Burke said that in 2008, the government collected approximately US $10 million through the PetroCaribe program. However, he pointed out that the projection for this year is that the country will collect only US$2.25 million due to the fall in the price of oil on the international market. The PetroCaribe agreement was established on June 2, 2005, between Venezuela and Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis and Suriname. Only Grenada's electricity company, Grenlec, currently uses PetroCaribe fuel. c. FM David Attends NAM Meeting in Havana Foreign Minister Peter David represented Grenada at last week's ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Havana. On the margins of the meeting, David held bilateral discussions with delegations from Canada, Singapore, Venezuela, Qatar, Australia, and the Dominican Republic. The Ministerspoke on behalf of the Caribbean and Latin American region at Thursday's closing ceremony. He also participated in May Day celebrations. d. Minister for Labor Attends Labor Day Rally For the first time in six years, a Grenadian Minister for Labor attended the annual May 1 Labor Day rally of the unions. In 2003, the Minister for Labor from the previous government was heckled and booed by the assembled union members and the government refused to participate in subsequent rallies. While the approximately 2500 participants were not universally pleased, or polite, about the Minister's attendance, her reception was generally positive. The Minister assured the audience that the new government is interested in a partnership that is "proactive". The government hopes to develop a mechanism with which the government can meet with labor representatives to analyze local, regional, and international economic trends and decide what, if anything, can be done to protect and safeguard the economy and improve employment. MCISAAC