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RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHWN #0507/01 2321535
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R 201535Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7701
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRIDGETOWN 000507 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL XL
SUBJECT: GRENADA REPLACES CONTROVERSIAL AG IN CABINET SHUFFLE 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU)  Grenada's year-old Government announced a cabinet 
reshuffle on 31 July, the centerpiece of which was the formal 
sacking of a controversial Attorney General.  The reshuffle also 
resulted in the creation of two new ministries and the division of 
several others.  According to the Senior Advisor to the Prime 
Minister, these changes were put into place to "provide for better 
management" and "to allow ministers to make more effective 
contributions" to the GOG.  By local accounts, this move was a 
positive one, showing both maturity by the senior leadership in 
removing the problematic AG, and a fulfillment of the government's 
promise to run a clean ship.  Bios for all new ministers at end of 
cable.  End summary. 
 
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AG Scandal Leads to Changes 
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¶2.  (SBU) The centerpiece of the government's cabinet shuffle 
announced 31 July was the removal of much-maligned AG Jimmy Bristol 
at the express request of Prime Minister Tillman Thomas.  Bristol 
shamelessly abused his position in an attempt to influence the 
outcome of his stepson's criminal trial in the U.S.  According to 
the GOG Press Secretary, Bristol wrote to a U.S. judge in November 
2008 on official GOG letterhead, seeking leniency for his stepson, 
Emmanuel Ganpot, who had been a fugitive in the U.S. for six years. 
Ganpot is scheduled to be sentenced in late August 2009 on 
drug-related charges.  The new AG is Rohan Phillip, a 38 year old 
former Solicitor General.  Phillip confirmed during our conversation 
on 21 August that he has been appointed for a three-month period, 
but that this appointment could, and probably would, be extended. 
 
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The Foreign Affairs - Tourism Division 
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¶3.  (SBU) Aside from the AG sacking, the most significant move was 
the division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of 
Tourism, formerly one ministry.  The split was spurred by growing 
discontent among major stakeholders, such as the Hotel Association, 
that FONMIN Peter David was ignoring the tourism portfolio and 
focusing a bit too heavily on off-island jaunts [Note: mostly to 
Cuba.  End note.]  To ameliorate this problem, the GOG created a 
new, independent Ministry of Tourism and appointed Glynis Roberts, 
former Minister for Social Development, Labor and Ecclesiastical 
Affairs, to the post.  Peter David retained the foreign affairs 
portfolio.  Roberts previously held the position of Grenadian 
representative to the EU, a connection some believe will assist her 
in increasing tourism from Europe. 
 
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Other Appointments 
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¶4.  (SBU) Senator Ann Peters, a former nurse and hospital 
administrator who also served as spokesperson for Grenada's medical 
practitioners for many years, is now the Minister for Health, 
replacing Karl Hood, who was moved to Minister for Social 
Development, Labor and Ecclesiastical Affairs - a posting more in 
keeping with his background as a high-ranking minister in the 
Pentecostal church.  In addition, the ministry was re-christened as 
the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Ecclesiastical Affairs, 
with the Social Development portfolio moving to its own separate 
ministry. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In another, probably less beneficial, move, the Ministry 
of the Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development replaces 
the former Ministry of the Environment.  This new ministry is led by 
Michael Church, the former Junior Minister for Finance and Foreign 
Trade.  Prior to 31 July there was one consolidated Ministry for 
Finance, Planning Economy, Energy, and Foreign Trade and 
Cooperatives, with various junior ministers running the individual 
portfolios.  The PM's advisor tells us that it was done in order to 
leave the former Junior Minister for the Environment, Sylvester 
Quarless, free to focus on Social Development in his new role as 
Minister for Social Development, but the move relegates 
environmental issues to what appears to be a fairly bloated 
ministry. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The leadership of the Ministries of Finance and Education 
- widely considered to be the most successful and well-functioning 
of the group - remains unchanged.  Franka Bernardine remains the 
Education Minister and is best known to date for the Ministry of 
Education's fulfillment of an election promise to provide free 
school books to all students, which they did within four months of 
taking office.  Bernardine is also the former director of the U.S. 
Peace Corps office in Grenada, at which time she had appealed on 
several occasions to the Ministry of Education to set up a desk 
focusing solely on Special Ed, but was ignored.  Immediately upon 
 
BRIDGETOWN 00000507  002 OF 002 
 
 
becoming Education Minister she created this dedicated desk, run by 
a Coordinator for Special Ed.  Finance Minister and Deputy Party 
Leader Nazim Burke also retained his position.  The highlight of his 
tenure thus far is the popular "tax amnesty" which brought in 
significant, much-needed revenue. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7.  (SBU) The recent changes in the GOG led local observers to note 
that after a year in office, the NDC government seems to finally be 
settling down and getting their act together to run the country.  It 
is a general belief that this reshuffle is a positive change.  The 
majority of the public supported the PM's decision to sack Bristol, 
viewing this move as proof of his promise to run a more transparent 
government. 
 
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BIODATA FOR NEW MINISTERS 
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¶8.  (SBU) Biodata follows: 
 
--Rohan Phillip, Attorney General: Phillip was born on the tiny 
island of Carriacou and received his LL.B (Hons) in 1996.  He was 
admitted to the Grenada Bar in 1998 and worked as Crown Counsel in 
the AG's Chambers until 2000.  He then moved to Belize where he 
served as Crown Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecution, then 
in the Solicitor General's office.  In 2003 Phillip returned to 
Grenada as Crown Counsel for the firm Henry, Hudson-Phillips & 
Company.  From 2005 to 2007 he was a Legal Officer at the OECS, 
working closely with the Economic Union Task Force, OECS Family Law 
& Domestic Violence Reform Project and ECTEL Board of Directors.  He 
went into private practice in 2007, until he was appointed Solicitor 
General in October 2008.  He was named Attorney General on 28 July 
¶2009. 
--Senator Ann Peters, Minister for Health: Peters served two terms 
in the Senate after being appointed by the former NDC Government of 
PM Sir Nicholas Brathwaite.  She is a trained nurse and former 
President of the Grenada Nurses Association.  She is also the wife 
of popular Grenadian playwright, Francis Urias Peters, and is 
herself an icon in the performing arts.  She is a singer and dancer 
and served as choreographer for the National Performing Arts Company 
of Grenada from 1979 to 1983. 
 
--Michael Church, Minister for the Environment, Foreign Trade and 
Export Development:  Church is an educator and development 
consultant who attended the Grenada Teachers' College, the 
University of Havana, the University of Camaguey, North Carolina 
State College and the University of Manitoba.  His studies focused 
on education and agricultural economics.  He has worked as Chief 
Technical Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and as a lecturer 
at the T.A. Marryshow Community College in Grenada. 
 
-- Sylvester Quarless, Minister for Social Development: Quarless is 
a successful businessman who studied at the University of the West 
Indies and also in Germany.  He majored in journalism, public 
relations and public administration.  He then worked as Information 
Officer for the Government of Grenada for 28 years. 
 
End of biodata. 
 
GOGGIN