An Island at E's: Education, Enforcement, the Economy and

UNCLAS GRENADA 000004 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR (KMCISAAC) STATE FOR S/SECC (RKASTENBERG) STATE FOR OES/PCI (LSPERLING)) STATE PLEASE PASS TO AID/LAC SAN JOSE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HUB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON PGOV SENV GJ XL SUBJECT: An Island at E's: Education, Enforcement, the Economy and the Environment Challenge Grenadian Leaders THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. 1.(SBU) SUMMARY. In the Charg????'s initial courtesy calls on senior Grenadians officials and politicians, interlocutors were in broad agreement that the education system and youth behavior were the priority issues for most Grenadians. The government and police welcomed U.S. engagement on security issues and recognized the need to do more to address narcotics and gun smuggling. Officials appeared resigned to toughing out the global recession, which has left Grenada with a weak economy, while the opposition sharpened its argument that the government deepened the crisis by frightening off foreign investment. Although the Prime Minister took seriously his role in promoting the interests of small island states in the global climate change debate, he appeared to have no particular national climate change strategy beyond an interest in renewable energy. Instead, the government focused on re-balancing biodiversity protection and development as it reversed legislation that permitted the prior government to sell national parks, scrutinized the investments that benefited from such sales, and looked to heal damaged coral reefs. END SUMMARY. 2.(SBU) The Charg????'s introductory calls with senior Grenadian politicians and officials highlighted a broad consensus among senior government politicians, civil servants and the opposition on the nation's priorities. All contacts expressed concern that Grenada's youth were abandoning the education system without the skills needed to hold jobs. Government and police shared an appreciation for U.S. assistance to Grenada's security forces, but flagged the challenge of maintaining control over Grenada's maritime zone with its current limited assets. While opposition and government were both concerned about the weak state of Grenada's economy, the government attributed the slowed economy to the global recession, while the opposition pointed to the government's poor handling of foreign investment. Although Prime Minister Tillman Thomas took seriously his role on the world stage representing small island states in climate change negotiations, at home he showed particular concern over the health of Grenada's reefs, still recovering from the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes. Is Education Failing Youth? -------------- 3.(SBU) Political leaders, government and opposition, shared a deep-seated concern over the state of Grenada's youth. The Grenadian public commonly faulted off-island pop culture, particularly that of the U.S., or the influence of deportees and other returnees to Grenada for the deterioration of youth mores. Contacts across the political spectrum, however, focused on whether the education system is meeting the needs of its students. Governor General Sir Carlyle Glean, a former Minister of Education, cited a growing disinterest among young men for education. In his view, young men, outperformed by young women, frequently dismissed education as a women's field of endeavor, dropped out of school into an inhospitable employment market, and ended up living off the women in their lives. By contrast, women presently form a majority of those seeking higher education and increasingly dominate the professions -- 17 of Grenada's 19 permanent secretaries, for example, are women. 4.(SBU) Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell noted that Grenada's British-inspired education system selected candidates for higher education but provided little opportunity for those interested in woodshop, mechanics or other technical careers. Commissioner of Police James Clarkson flagged the poor quality of the police's recruiting pool, with many candidates either functionally illiterate or lacking in basic skills. Contacts are reconsidering the value of single-sex education and the usefulness of expanded technical instruction in the schools. Members of the Prime Minister's staff also pointed to the re-establishment of the Cadet Corps, whose military-like standards provide structure for its members, as an opportunity for influencing youth culture. 5.(U) Members of the Prime Minister's staff were concerned about teenagers caught up in the prison system. Juveniles are housed in the same facility as adults and therefore are exposed to patterns of adult criminality. Plans for a separate facility remain stalled due to lack of funds. Security on a Shoestring -------------- 6.(SBU) Government contacts acknowledged widespread concern about crime, which they nevertheless recognized was less prevalent in Grenada than on neighboring islands. Thomas, his aides, and Clarkson appreciated the wide range of security-related cooperation between the U.S. and Grenada. The Prime Minister and his staff recognized that Grenada needed to assert greater control over its sea space to discourage the drug trade, and urged further assistance to upgrade the Royal Grenada Police's marine capacity. Clarkson acknowledged the problem of maintaining core marine expertise in the face of the rotation schedule dictated by his force's small size. He also recognized that the risks of narcotics-related money laundering grew with the development of Grenada's financial sector. However, he concluded that the chief challenge is not whether international banking standards would be adopted by Grenada, but rather how to ensure the honesty of the team entrusted with oversight. 7.(SBU) Clarkson commented on two other areas involving coordination with the U.S. He was disappointed with e-TRACE, which helped pinpoint the provenance of arms seized on the island but contributed little to building a courtroom-worthy case. Clarkson concluded that Grenada's e-TRACE inquiries likely provided more investigative data to U.S. authorities than it did to Grenada. In his view, e-TRACE would be more useful if it included, for example, the weapon's history, information on its owners, or data on crimes in which the weapon was used. By contrast, Clarkson looked favorably on cooperation among immigration in authorities in conjunction with international cricket matches and hoped to see that particular mechanism reactivated. Recession and Reconstruction -------------- 8.(SBU) The Prime Minister and his aides briefly referred to the difficult conditions posed by the current recession, which contributed to a scarcity of resources preventing the rebuilding of key historic public buildings. The PM pointed to the reconstruction of York House, the legislative seat, as a particularly glaring need, while Foreign Minister Peter David lamented the lack of British assistance for rebuilding the Governor General's residence. Mitchell said that Grenada' recession cost it between 8 and 10 percent of the economy- an impact he described as comparable to that of Hurricane Ivan. Mitchell attributed the island's weak economy to uncertainty generated by the investigation or cancellation of major development projects entered into by Mitchell's government, which scared off other foreign investors. Climate Change and Biodiversity -------------- 9.(SBU) Enthusiastic about environmental issues, Thomas attended the 15th Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen buoyed by his role as chair for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and pleased by the support provided to AOSIS by Commonwealth countries. At Copenhagen, Thomas was unhappy with the role played by the G-77 in shielding India, China and others from action, confirming for him the need to keep AOSIS' voice distinct from the G-77. Nevertheless, he believed that Copenhagen achieved a step forward towards the goal of a legally binding agreement. In Thomas' view, follow-through on the USD 30 billion Copenhagen commitment towards developing states' efforts at mitigation and clean energy will help maintain the momentum towards a legally-binding agreement. When asked about Grenada's particular efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, Thomas described the island's prospects for wind and solar power generation. 10.(SBU) Thomas also expressed interest in AID support for biodiversity protection on the island, especially for programs that would help nurse back to health hurricane-damaged reefs that are important to local fishermen. Non-governmental organization (NGO) observers active in environmental issues welcomed the Thomas Administration's reversal of legislation passed under the Mitchell government that authorized the government to sell off national parks. They expressed concern that agreements from the Mitchell era were negotiated out of the public eye and failed to consider the impact of development on adjacent lands and waters. The NGOs believed that the government's decision to scrutinize these contracts provided an opportunity to assess their environmental consequences. They also drew particular hope from Thomas' reported interest in promoting the concept of "Geotourism", a strategy that builds upon notions of sustainable tourism. National Geographic is said by NGO contacts to have signaled to the government its interest in providing expertise in implementing the "Geotourism" approach. 11.(U) Charg???? met with Prime Minister Tillman Thomas and his staff on 30 Nov and 28 Dec; Governor General Sir Carlyle Glean on 1 Dec; Foreign Minister Peter David on 5 Dec; Leader of the Opposition Keith Mitchell on 2 Dec; and Police Commissioner James Clarkson on 10 Dec. Charg???? also met with NGO consultants and individuals linked to the study of the Grenada Dove on December 4, 13 and 23. Comment -------------- 12.(SBU) The economy and the environment could well form an entwined line of scrimmage between the government and opposition in ¶2010. The government and opposition disagree over the ability of the government to mitigate the present difficult economic climate. The opposition has an opportunity to criticize the government for holding up jobs, investment and infrastructure by not honoring the development projects authorized by the prior government. The government has an opening to revisit questions of judgment and ethics raised by its predecessor's penchant for backroom deals to turn Grenada's picture-perfect public lands into performing assets. 13.(SBU) Both opposition and government leaders appeared appreciative of past American engagement with Grenada and spoke warmly of the U.S. as a valuable partner. Ministers were interested in drawing upon U.S. expertise and resources, holding out particular hope that the U.S. will support the reconstruction of the courts and other hurricane-damaged government buildings. The favorable U.S. reputation clearly rests on AID's post-Hurricane Ivan assistance. Contacts contrasted completed U.S. projects with the disappointments linked to some of the efforts by other partners - shoddy construction, "show" projects that don't meet local needs, or, in the case of Britain, the failure to rebuild the historic buildings housing the legislature and the residence of the Governor General, symbols to Grenada of shared Crown government and parliamentary tradition. End comment. LINK