THE NEW TODAY is particularly concerned with a statement made last week Tuesday by Press Secretary in the office of the Prime Minister that government has started an investigation into what is now called in the country “The Cellphonegate affair”.
Press Secretary Philomena Roberston did not give details about the inquiry that is currently being undertaken and the composition of the members of the investigating team and its mandate.
However, this newspaper is calling on Government to immediately halt this investigation and to allow an independent body to take charge of the proceedings and for there to be transparency in the probe.
How can the Government investigate its own when even members of the Cabinet of Ministers might get implicated in Cellphonegate?
This newspaper takes the view that the first bit of deception on this issue came from the Prime Minister himself when he told Grenadians in Canada that it was he who uncovered the wrongdoing with the abuse of the government cellphone.
All honest and truthful Grenadians will know differently and that it was Mr. Kem Jones who broke the news to the public on one of his early morning radio programmes.
If the Prime Minister was the first to discover the “Cellphonegate” scandal then it begs the question what did he do with the information that was in his possession?
THE NEW TODAY is firmly of the opinion that only an independent body, outside of the ambit and direct control of government and the Cabinet of Ministers, should undertake a proper and thorough investigation into the issue that is now of national concern that has rocked the nation.
This attempt to peddle to the nation that those who benefitted illegally from using the government cellphone in their possession would be asked to pay back the money is just an attempt to sidetrack from the real issue.
The taxpayers of the country are fully entitled to know how much of their money was used to pay the cellphone bill of the NNP chief political propagandist Sheldon Scott in the past three years.
It is established that the bill was $70, 000.00 for three months this year (April to June) so if the trajectory is correct then Mr. Scott’s bill was somewhere in the vicinity of $828, 000.00 during the 2016-19 period – almost one million dollars.
If the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Utilities is correct in stating that there was supposed to be a cap of EC$11, 000.00 per month for the service from Digicel and the monthly bill had reached an average of $125, 000.00, then it meant that government had spent EC$4.1 million dollars extra in paying the telecommunications provider over the last 3 years.
Can anyone imagine what $4.1 million could have done to healthcare in Grenada including the patients who are in need of regular Dialysis treatment, as well as the purchase of medication and bandages at the hospitals and health centres around the island?
This issue of Cellphonegate touches at the heart of good governance under the Mitchell-led administration and seriously questions the boast that the IMF is pleased with the running of Grenada under the NNP watch.
How come the PS in the Ministry, her accounting officers and the Line Minister Gregory Bowen did not pick up this wanton abuse of the agreement signed with Digicel over the years?
Isn’t Minister Bowen the Leader of Government Business in the Lower House of Parliament and was in a good position to get first hand information on the spending of the budget under his many portfolios?
This investigation should not be conducted by the Government or its agents since some of the Cabinet Ministers are directly involved in the abuse of the system and the cap.
A case in point is the Minister of Foreign Affairs whose bill for just three months alone was around EC$18,000.00.
Can the said minister justify these excessively high bills every month on his government-paid mobile phone?
What is the level of resources mobilised by the Foreign Minister to justify these high bills?
Was someone in Digicel getting some kind of a “kick back” to turn a blind eye to the massive breach of the contract with Government?
The country should reject any attempt by government to investigate the Cellphonegate Scandal all on its own and to stay away from setting up a proper and independent committee to probe into the issue.
This Government is still refusing to tell the nation how did PM Mitchell left the island a few weeks ago but was only prepared to give information on how he came back into Grenada on Jet Blue after a particular episode.
How can anyone trust the Mitchell-led government to deal with this issue in a sincere manner when so many of its own are deeply involved in the Cellphonegate scandal?