The Muslim Community in Grenada will see one of its own sitting for the first time in the newlook Grenada Parliament which is due to re-open on Wednesday since the change of government following the June 23 general election.
Salim Rahaman, a devout Muslim and Manager of Spice Isle Retreaders, has been selected by the private sector groupings on the island – the Grenada Chamber of Industry & Commerce (GCIC) and the Grenada Hotel & Tourism Association (GHTA) – to represent the Business Community in the Senate.
THE NEW TODAY spoke to father of Salim, Azam Rahaman, one of the founders of the tyre shop, and he was very proud of the fact that his son will be able to make a contribution in the island’s premier law-making body.
According to the elder Rahaman, when he decided to leave Grenada in 2008 to settle in Canada, he placed Salim at the helm of the family business.
He is confident that the new Senator-elect will do a good job for the private sector in Parliament.
“He is open to having talks with anybody – he is that type of person. He is not fearful – he doesn’t have any inhibitions. He is a very pro-active individual – always looking on the bright side of things.
I think he will be an asset to the private sector in the long-term and you will see the results of it when you hear him in the Senate.
He is not an aggressive person, he is a very passionate person for whatever he believes in and he believes in joining what is right and forbidding what is wrong – that is his motto. These are his watchwords and he is a very spiritually-inclined person too.
I brought them (the children) up not to drink alcohol and not to smoke cigarettes and to watch who your company is – be very careful. They have been taught to be rightly guided as much as we know how to.”
Salim Rahaman is known to be a frequent worshipper at the Muslim Mosque at Calliste in the south of the island.
Azam Rahaman was once a staunch member of the New National Party (NNP) of former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell but broke ties to give support to the rival National Democratic Congress (NDC) of newly elected Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell.
One of his other sons, Zaid Rahaman has also landed a position as a new member on the Board of Directors of the Grenada Airports Authority (GAA).