Kimalee Phillip is a Grenadian feminist and labour human rights activist and organizer who is part of the Caribbean Solidarity Network.
2021 is upon us. Arundhati Roy invited us to consider the pandemic as a portal, a portal through which we decide what ideas, patterns and baggage we want to take with us to the other side. Will we choose to carry with us old ways of being and seeing the world that no longer serve us, or are we ready to courageously make the leap, lighter and with more spaciousness to embrace something different? It worries to think that one of the things we may carry with us through this portal, into 2021, are these outdated, worn-out, old boys’ type of partisan politics that continue to insist that the people are the laughing stock and that those elected are untouchable.
On Monday night, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell announced the immediate implementation of a 14-day nightly curfew on the Grenada Broadcasting Network. Many have asked whether constitutional requirements were followed as the announcement was made that night, for immediate implementation, with nothing published in the Gazette. The Prime Minister also saw it a fitting time to remind us that he is indeed “not the Grinch that stole Christmas”. Immediately after his announcement, a few Grenadians took to the streets and social media, mimicking the Prime Minister and insinuating that this may be the only thing that he in fact, did NOT steal. This was Mitchell’s second national address since news broke of 26 new COVID-19 cases linked to the Sandals resort located in the south of the island. In his first national address, there was little to no empathy shown for the workers and their families who have been negatively impacted by this recent increase of cases. It is still unclear what happened and Grenadians were waiting, perhaps hoping, that our Prime Minister would use the first national speech to explain what occurred. What they heard instead was insulting, disconnected from reality and mostly a congratulatory address to the business community for their swift responses, while the larger population was in the main chastised for not practicing better safety precautions. It felt like a guilty parent disciplining a child for the parent’s own mistakes.
The Sandals worker and her family of 13, including children, who tested positive for COVID-19 clearly did not appear to be at the forefront of the Prime Minister’s mind. The other non-unionized workers at the resort who may have been exposed did not appear to be at the forefront of our Prime Minister’s mind. The many Grenadians who may have come into contact with these workers while on the bus or while running errands clearly did not appear to be at the forefront of his mind. Workers and other Grenadians are now paying the price for this display of disregard for the overall wellbeing of the people where some have chosen not to comply with the health regulations – when in fact such non-compliance, according to the 2020 Public Health (COVID-19) Regulations (now part of the Public Health Act), may be considered an offence.
Many questions and rumours are floating around as to what really happened. These include alleged statements from Sandals workers that tourists arriving at the resort were not all required to get tested a few days after arriving and were not required to socially distance. According to the government’s COVID-19 website, visitors “staying at approved “Pure Safe travel accommodations” hotels and resorts will not normally be tested on arrival.” On that same website, it states that residents “will undergo a COVID-19 PCR test on or after day 4 to exit from the Pure Safe travel accommodations (PCR results are usually ready within 1 – 2 working days). You are NOT cleared from quarantine until you are officially communicated [with by the] health officials.” These inconsistencies and the logic underpinning them are unclear. I’m a Grenadian citizen living in Canada and I stayed at an approved “Pure Safe travel accommodation”. The COVID-19 compliance officer who I met with the day after I arrived was clear and kind. He informed me that all of us who arrived would have to remain quarantined in one part of the resort; that we will be tested on either day 4 or 5 and that not until we had been cleared by Health Officials were we allowed to socialize with other guests, including others in quarantine. He also made it very clear that under no circumstances were we allowed to leave the premises. What led to such clear and strict restrictions being implemented at one Pure Safe travel accommodation being completely different from another has still been left unanswered. Two national addresses later and the Grenadian public is still left with more questions than before.
If you saw a relationship as worthwhile, you would invest time to clarify any miscommunication that may lead to a possible breakdown in trust and collegiality. The Prime Minister’s communication and approach to the people of Grenada where he has chosen, time and time again, to not address the very real questions and concerns of the people, imply that he does not in fact see the relationship with the Grenadian people as worthy of even an explanation or even some acknowledgement of responsibility. The people’s subsequent responses says a lot about how they see their elected officials. It’s hilarious but it’s also quite telling. Are the lives of the working class and all Grenadians seen as disposable and not warranting deep care and concern? What does it say about the trust the people have in the government and the respect that the government has for the people who elected them, when they continue to make light of serious, material conditions (including apparent double standards that demonstrated obeisance to the tourist dollar), that led to the sudden increase in COVID-19 cases?
This is also doubly concerning as it is all happening against the backdrop of a recent national budget that saw the prioritizing of infrastructure and privatization over healthcare, agriculture and fisheries and other sectors of society. Given the clear need for Grenada and many Caribbean countries to advance a food sovereign and food justice agenda, it is disappointing to see that together, both the Ministry of Agriculture, Land & Forestry and the Ministry of Sports, Culture & the Arts, Fisheries and Cooperatives received less than 3% of the total expenditure planned.
In times of crisis, we must also pay close attention to any suspension of civil liberties as is the case with Emergency Power Acts and accompanying regulations, particularly when that suspension is indefinite and is accompanied by an increase in resources for the police and surveillance state apparatus. In the last budget, the police received 4.2% of the total expenditure which is more than the combined total allocated to Ministries mandated to oversee agriculture, land, fisheries and cooperatives.
The tourism sector, being one of the most heavily resourced and relied upon for GDP across the Caribbean, continues to come under much scrutiny. In a region that is deeply vulnerable to hurricanes, storms and other natural events, we cannot continue to rely on a sector that is primarily dependent on external interest and advertising. The temporary euphoria experienced by tourists cannot supersede the daily and material needs of the working people of the Caribbean. The current pandemic has also shown us how tentative and unreliable this sector can be. In one of the Minister of Health’s recent national addresses, Nicholas Steele makes mention of “corridor arrangements” made with three hotels, of which Sandals is one. It is unclear why these “corridor arrangements” were deemed essential, what they entail and whether or not they fully comply with the 2020 Public Health (COVID-19) Regulations. It is clear that gaps in protocols and inconsistencies in implementation and enforcement have led to Grenada trying to manage the quick increase in cases. Again, the tourism sector and financial capital have superseded the wellbeing of Grenadians.
The Minister of Finance, Gregory Bowen, stated in his budgetary remarks, “Mr. Speaker, there will be a strong drive to collect tax arrears. Our revenue collecting agencies will continue their efforts to improve the administration and collection of revenues to not only ensure that we all pay our fair share, but to also facilitate an improved taxpayer experience.” To hear this is encouraging as according to the November State of Tax Justice 2020 report, the world is losing $427 billion (USD) in taxes a year to international tax abuse. This report, completed by the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, Public Services International and the Tax Justice Network, is a first-of-its-type annual report on the annual economic and social cost of international tax abuse. Of the $427 billion, nearly $245 billion is lost to multinational corporations shifting profit into tax havens in order to underreport how much profit they actually made in the countries where they do business and consequently pay less in taxes. The remaining $182 billion is lost to wealthy individuals hiding undeclared assets and incomes offshore, beyond the reach of the law. Grenada’s total annual loss to tax abuse is $3,053,744 (USD) which represents almost 13% of public expenditure on public health. That’s the annual salary of 273 nurses. These additional tax revenues can go a long way in strengthening our health & public services. Moreover, our estimated tax revenue losses due to offshore financial wealth is $0.3 billion (USD) which is 22% of our GDP ($3.1 million USD). Considering these figures as well as the legacy of debt that Grenadians are saddled with, it beckons us to boldly reimagine the economy in ways that truly centre the people and our environment and that ensure that we are all paying our fair share for our collective good.
Returning to Arundhati Roy’s invitation to think of the pandemic as a portal, I understand why for many of us we may be stuck in feelings of grief and loss given all that 2020 has sent our way. It is possible to still feel grief, rage, and loss while not becoming lost to hopelessness. I want to honour these complex and layered emotions and not minimize one over the other. What I do know though, is that I for one, refuse to remain captivated by a restricted imagination that refuses to see and believe that other ways of being are possible. As a people, I hope that we take into the portal more clarity, courage and an audacity to believe and demand that things be better, that we demand that our elected representatives treat us with dignity and respect and that we remind them that when they forfeit their responsibility to us, the people, that we have every right to take it back into our own hands. Similar to the shared investments felt across the region when Grenadians took a risk and launched the first socialist revolution in the English speaking Caribbean, so too we know that what is happening here today, is not just a story for Grenadians but for the entire Caribbean region. This portal signals an invitation for us to deepen, expand and strengthen our shared commitment to one another and our shared stories of curiosity, freedom and world building. May we enter 2021 stronger and with more conviction that our lives, both present and future, and our environments are worth nurturing and protecting.
