The ongoing negative publicity of Grenada in the international community over the Tyrrel Bay Marina fall-out should be brought to an immediate end through the intervention of the State.
Due to ignorance of the facts surrounding the dispute between two parties by those boat owners in the Marina, the outside world is getting the impression that Grenada is a lawless society and that is so very far from the truth.
THE NEW TODAY has done some background checks on the issue of the fence that was erected by one of the parties that has the effect of not allowing the boat owners to move their vessels freely out of the Marina.
This issue at the Tyrrel Bay Marina has its genesis in the illegal and wrongful decision that was taken by former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and his then ruling New National Party (NNP) government in 2014 to lease private property that was not owned by the State to the private Developers of the project.
The matter went before the highest court of the land – the British Privy Council in England and the Law Lords ruled that the disputed property belonged to the Corion family and not the Government of Grenada.
It is clear to us that over the years, the Developers including a multi-millionaire from Trinidad & Tobago have been using their large stack of money to try and circumvent the laws of the land in order to remain on the lands of the Corion family.
The Privy Council sent the matter back to the courts in Grenada to settle a few matters including Damage and Compensation to the rightful owners of the property.
However, the Developers and their lawyers who most likely are handsomely paid have been going to the local courts with a series of motions that are seemingly aimed at preventing the Corion’s from gaining control of their seven acres of land that was used as part of the overall Marina.
In one instance, they sought to challenge the action of the family to fence the land that had the effect of locking-in boats in the Marina.
An approach was made by the Developers to the Planning and Development Authority (PDA) to get the Corion family to remove the fence on the grounds that this State body did not give any such permission for the erection of the fence.
The fact of the matter is that there was an application by the Developers before the court to seek an injunction against the Corion Family on the issue and it was dismissed by the sitting high court judge Justice Agnes Actie as late as June 17, 2026.
The PDA took the rightful decision that the developers were coming to them in an effort to side-step the ruling of the court.
Now that the matter is turning out to be very embarrassing to Grenada in the International Community, there is a deafening silence from the NNP and their new Political Leader Emmalin Pierre on the issue.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell cannot continue to sit on the fence and do nothing to help resolve the issue that arose from an ill-advised decision of a previous regime.
It is our understanding that the then NNP government had given the Developers a particular area in Harvey Vale to establish a Marina on the sister isle.
The Developers wanted more land space and were given permission by the authorities of the day to move onto the current location of their extended Marina and in doing so they went onto lands belonging to the Corion family without the permission of the owners.
It will be interesting to know what advice was given to then Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and the MP for Carriacou & Petite Martinique, the late Elvin Nimrod on the issue by the then serving Attorney-General Cajeton Hood who was the principal legal advisor to the government on the granting of the lease to the Developers.
That Grenadian leader is known to have a history of taking the law into his own hands and doing whatever he feels like especially when political expediency comes into play.
There was the well-known case of the controversial soil that was imported into the country by a major hotel operator in the South of the island despite concerns expressed by the then Pest Control Officer, Paul Graham.
Keith Mitchell overruled the officer on the grounds that “the bucks stop with him and not the public officer” and that he would take responsibility for whatever happened.
It is suspected that the imported soil is responsible for the introduction of the red millipede which soon after took over the whole southern section of the island.
Grenada is no rogue state in which the law of the jungle is allowed with impunity.
Since Government is continuous, Congress as a government has to protect the image of the country before the eyes of the international community and should move with haste to take steps to broker a deal between the Marina Developers and the Corion family on the dispute.
The longer this state of affairs continues to exist, the more difficult it will be to bring the two sides closer to an agreement on the Tyrrel Bay Marina issue.
The Developers have not attempted to reach out to the Corion Family who have now adopted a very hardline position that they want their lands back in their possession and that the “Trespassers” must move out of the property.
There is also a role to be played by the new NNP female boss Emmalin Pierre by joining with the government in helping to bring the two sides together to broker a deal and to correct a wrong that was done in the recent past by a government in which she was a senior Cabinet Minister.
No one should be allowed to use their “deep financial pockets” to try and circumvent the laws of the land in order to achieve their ambitions, especially in this case where the Privy Council ruled that the lands belonged to the Corion Family and not the State of Grenada.