The Government of Grenada is moving aggressively to improve physical planning operations in the country.
Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, has stated that planning is a critical part of the country’s development and it must be treated more seriously than it currently is.
At a meeting Thursday with top officials associated with physical planning, Dr Mitchell said, “I am very concerned about the level of ad hoc and arbitrary building that is becoming prevalent across the country. Government will be moving quickly to examine the whole structure and make drastic changes. We must protect the integrity of our development process before it causes irreparable damage to our country.”
Dr Mitchell underscored the importance of achieving greater compliance with planning policies, regulations and notices. He said, “We must act quickly to provide more enforcement power with respect to physical planning. It is not acceptable that a stop notice is given and the contractor and/or owner simply ignores this and continues building. That amounts to lawlessness; people cannot be ignoring the laws of the land.”
The Minister of Finance and Planning also cited discrepancies in the approval times and the historic stigma of corruption that has been attached to the Physical Planning Unit and the Planning Authority.
Dr Mitchell said, “It has been brought to my attention that some persons seeking permission to build wait several months for approval while other applications seem to be fast-tracked through the system. This is not right or fair. There must be equity in the approval process. Relatedly, we must also move quickly to change the historic perception that there is corruption in Grenada’s physical planning process. We must have suitably qualified persons to undertake the work and they must operate within the ambit of the law and must be held accountable for their actions.”
Dr Mitchell acknowledged the improvements made with respect to addressing the backlog of applications but he stressed the need to continue finding ways to improve the overall planning function.
One of the imminent changes will be the establishment of a Physical Planning and Development Control Authority with responsibility for overseeing all planning and development matters, including environmental protection.
Office of the Prime Minister
We have a lot of ignorance to overcome.
Agriculture has been tried in Grenada for hundreds of years. It cannot provide a middle-class standard of living to more than a small fraction of the population because the prices we can obtain for tropical agricultural exports, whether processed into consumer products or not, are very low.
To opt for agriculture means choosing a society that will be forever impoverished, with the majority of people living shortened lives of near-destitution. How can anyone be so misguided? Perhaps we should teach more Economics in the high schools.
Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Man must eat. Not travel. Pure crap about need for hotels. All of them empty. Ivan and Covid taught our leaders nothing.
I shuddered the other day on grand and enjoying my swim to find pieces of weeds like those in lance aux epines beach swimming with me. The beginning of the end??? Nowhere to filter the mud and debris now flowing freely into our beloved beach while the hotel our mangroves and filter were destroyed for stands supreme and like all the others empty of the guests and tourists they were supposed to house. Wooiieee!!!! Ah go dead!!!!
What we have to exploit are our plentiful agricultural produce. Imagine meh family does bring dried mango for me from the US. Yet no calls for a fruit processing plant. Only hotel. Hotel. Hotel. Wake up leaders. Stop selling out our land. Exploit what we have.
For those of you who thinks it’s ok to use this medium to shout out to us how dumb we are I am sure if another MARCH 13th were to happen you will be the first ones hightailing it out of here.
Study our history. Be careful. We take a lot but be careful when we are silent.
The PM does not have to look far for professionals to assist in the development of Grenada. He is very well aware of the calibre of native returns. We returned because we have never left in spirit or in the body. We revisit yearly, 6 monthly and we invest. We have varied and professional skills sufficient to take Grenada to where it should be. Surely, at arrival, the immigration Department is well placed to catalogue skills and profession of returnees and forward to the physical planning or to any Governmental agency. PM you just have to humble yourself, come down a peg or two and partnership with Grenadians at home and abroad. We are well able to take our country forward. We are here communicate and consult us. We have a voice. We have spending power. We have skills and experience. We are Grenadians.
Thank you soo much amen.
Meanwhile those same people who complain are the same ones destroying their own environments by dumping their garbage and waste in levera and mt hartman and it is just such a disgrace. Tourists always pass through mt hartman and see the garbage locals dump their!!!! WHAT A DISGRACE. GRENADIANS ARE THE MOST DISGUSTING PEOPLE EVER. WHY CANT THEY GO TAKE A LOOK THEMSELVES. They need to have people clean up in the last Saturday of every month just like rwanada. Too much democracy. People cant just shut up and so something good. Why are there not grenadian owned hotels??? BECAUSE THEY WOULDN NOT BUILD THEIR OWN HOTELS.FHEY JUST COMPLAIN and that is what black people do. Cant even unite to say that four grenadians would put up money to build one hotel.
Why complain???? What are grenadians complaining for???? GRENADIANS DONT WANT TO WORK. GRENADIANS ALWAYS COMPLAIN. AND ALL THEY WANT IS MONEYY. how is the country going to develop??? Grenadians need to get rid of that mentality they have. Go open up big five star luxury hotels and stop complaining. If this not happen how is the country going to grow????? AMERICA CREATES THESE RUMORS SO THAT THEY CAN HAPPILY WATCH US IN POVERTY. MY QUESTION IS WHAT WILL GRENADIANS DO FOR THEIR OWN COUNTRY?????? WHO IS GOING TO DO IT???????
Grenadians need to shut up.and stop complaining. These investors are not taking over the country and people need to shut up with all these rumors going around. IF YOU FEEL FOREIGNERS ARE TAKING OVER GO BUILD YOUR GRENADIAN OWNED FIVE STAR HOTEL AND STOP COMPLAINING. GRENADIANS NEED TO GET RID OF THIS MENTALITY OF JUST COMPLAINING AND NOT DOING NOTHING ABOUT IT. you dont fight back by opposing your government or investors but by nation building and self sustainability. AND THIS IS WHAT GRENADIANS DONT SEE. people should be complaining about lack of jobs and employment. THEY SHOULD BE SO GREATFUL. WE NEED DEVELOPMENT IN THE COUNTRY. All those first world countries made it somehow not by themselves but along with foreign investment. If we dont have any do you want us to become like haiti??? Or the DRC???? Of course not. Grenada is going to become a fully developed country when these hotels start coming. AGAIN AS I SAID. YOU FEEL THAT THEY ARE TAKING OVER???? WELL THEN GO BUILD YOUR OWN HOTES OR JUST SHUT UP.
This is just s PR stunt; no talk in this piece about destruction to La Sagesse, Mt. Hartman, Levera, where these projects started before environmental assessments have been started or completed, with the government’s blessings.
It will be interesting to see where this goes 6 months from now.
In a small island like Grenada, it is very easy to stop corruption in its tracks.
The government should set up a confidential whistleblower (“snitch”) hotline manned 24/7 by non-Grenadian employees of an international accounting/consulting firm like Pricewaterhouse/Coopers or KPMG. Offer whistleblowers complete confidentiality, plus a substantial financial reward if their information leads to the successful prosecution of wrongdoers.
I do not think that we have to go that far. By this I mean outside of Grenada. There are numerous Returning Grenadians who have now settled back home and are well versed in planning and development issues. The majority I’m certain will put the development of the country in line with relevant policy guidelines before “the brown envelope”..
Hello ADM,
We’re working on real-world solutions to the problems Grenada faces regarding sustainable development, plus we see the importance of empowering fellow Grenadians to contribute to Transparency, Oversight & Accountability!
It sounds like you’re thinking along those same lines – please volunteer with Grenada Land Actors to join the discussion and take action at grenadaland.com
Please let me have this job. I’ll be happy to do it for very little pay. I’m an old white guy with decades building and a familiarity with the international building code. We can have engineers to make sure good and proper infrastructure is in place before construction, you know, roads, sewerage, water, power, things like that. Commercial development will come with sufficient parking so as not to tie up traffic. OR we could return to the sleepy Grenada with a few lorries bringing the goods to market and mills and a few busses to cart us around safely. Let the cows back on the beach, have a bit of rum, smoke a bit of the weed and let the peace wash over you.
We believe “Grenada belongs to we” and that Grenadians have the capacity to meaningfully contribute to Transparency, Oversight & Accountability in sustainable development for our island nation.
By keeping Developers and our Government Representatives accountable – we’re demanding attention be properly paid to this issue – and the spotlight is strengthening. We’re going to continue pushing for concrete commitments that respect our laws, communities, and environment – then we’re going to keep pushing to make sure they are enforced!
Please volunteer with Grenada Land Actors to join the discussion and take action at grenadaland.com