A New Year’s Day Message from the Chairman of The Grenada Movement

On behalf of The Grenada Movement, I wish to offer my best wishes to all Grenadians, as we begin 2021 under the most challenging circumstances in our recent history.

The last year, 2020, has left us conscious of humanity’s interconnectedness and the enduring challenge even more now to be our neighbour’s keeper. This is particularly relevant to us in the Grenadian Civilisation, as too many of us are entering the New Year with souls psychologically and materially scarred and battered.

And while the Covid scourge in 2020 reminded us of our fragility; it has brought home the ineptness and unimaginativeness of the current leadership and the call to Grenadian patriots to rally on behalf of the helpless, the vulnerable and those who are short of hope. It has also kindled a national fire and fervour for a new kind of leadership that is insightful, humane, inspirational, resolute, sincere and confident in the people and the future.

The New Year, 2021, notwithstanding the persisting grimness that hangs over the world; we are compelled by the very optimism that has defined our Grenadian spirit to begin to embrace and apply the lessons that we learned in 2020. We, The Grenada Movement, are convinced that with judicious management of our national affairs and insightful planning, given our altered circumstances, 2021 can become the springboard for the emergence of a new economy powered by the resilience of our people.

We are heartened by the valiant efforts of our health professionals, our front-line workers, our contact tracers, our laboratory staff, and most of all, the people of Grenada, who have risen to face the challenges accompanying the Covid-19 pandemic with a spirit of solidarity; solidarity with those who are in need and at their most vulnerable. This spirit gives us hope and optimism, that no matter what comes our way, we can and will pull through it together.

In 2020, TGM launched the We Care initiative, to collect food and other household items for the less fortunate amongst us. Our younger members, who came up with the initiative, are already successfully delivering relief to affected families. We are thankful for the responses we have received from all our donors, big and small. In 2021, we urge your continued donation of what you can – in making life and living more manageable for the least fortunate amongst us. As a nation, this is an honourable way to demonstrate one of our national mantras – unity is our strength.

In 2021, we call upon all Grenadians to draw on our reserves of hope, of goodwill and resilience. To our brothers and sisters affected by the pandemic in one way or another, do not be daunted, even though the road ahead may seem impassable. Inside each of us is the strength to overcome and to be victorious again as we have been in the past. Let us keep each other in our thoughts and prayers, even as we each face our own challenges.

In 2021, those of us who have been blessed to not be exposed to or afflicted with Covid-19, have an obligation to ourselves, our loved ones, and our frontline workers, to continue to practice the safety measures which have served us so well.

To the families and individuals who have felt the direct burden of Covid-19, we offer you solidarity and our wishes for your recovery within the shortest possible time.

In 2021, it is our wish that Grenada and Grenadians:

• Maintain their steadfastness in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic
• Continue to demonstrate their resilience and unity even in the face of difficult circumstances
• Begin the restructuring of the national economy and its transformation
• Be served by a Government that recognises that it is accountable to the people of Grenada
• Be served by a Government that is transparent in its handling of the Covid-19 crisis
• Be served by a Government determined to make right the wrongs that the Grenadian people have been forced to endure, especially those Grenadians who bear the direct burden of the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis
• Be served by a Government that is transparent and honest about its management of national assets, the economy and the national debt.

In 2021, The Grenada Movement resolves to:

• Continue to address and advocate for issues that affect Grenada and Grenadians in every possible context
• Continue to highlight and constructively promote avenues for national development that will bring benefit to all Grenadians
• Continue to engage with all sectors and organisations committed to improving the lives of Grenadians
• Continue to welcome members committed to the betterment of Grenada for all its citizens.

The New Year offers an opportunity for us all to renew the Grenadian spirit of fraternity and faith, to be each other’s keeper and to offer our own strength to the least capable among us. Now more than ever, as Grenadians, we must stand tall, undaunted by the tides of hopelessness that seek to overwhelm us, as generations before us have.

As the pandemic grows increasingly more virulent across the world, and more dangerous for us here in Grenada, it is absolutely important that each of us takes up our individual responsibility to reverse the spread of Covid-19 on our shores. In 2021, this battle, which TGM calls “The Fight We Must Win”, will only be won with a combination of individual and collective responsibility – every single one of us, wherever we are, can help stop the virus from moving from one person to another.

Grabbing hold of our destiny could not be more urgent than now; uniting as a People could not be more critical than now.

In 2021, let us rise together to face and overcome the challenges before us, as we have many times before.

May God continue to bless our people and bless our land.

Happy New Year.

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