The Minister's Hour Episode 10 with Hon. Dennis Cornwall, Minister for Finance

[00:00:15][music] [music] [music] [music] >> Good evening and welcome to the Ministers Hour. I'm your host Nela ATM press secretary in the office of the Prime Minister and this evening we are pleased to be joined by the honorable Dennis Cornwall, Minister for Finance.

[00:00:55]As we take in an in-depth look at how Grenada is navigating the year 2026, focusing on national development, economic resilience, and people-centered transformation. As we approach the midpoint of the year, Grenadians at home and in the diaspora are asking important questions. How strong is Grenada's economy? How is government managing rising global uncertainty? And most importantly, what does all of this mean for the everyday citizen, their livelihoods, and their future opportunities? In today's program, Minister Cornwall will speak to the country's economic performance so far, key achievements of the Ministry of Finance, and ongoing reforms, and the government's efforts to balance growth and fiscal discipline. This is more than just a conversation about numbers. It's a conversation about progress, stability, and the path forward for Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique. Minister Cornwall, we welcome you to the Minister's Hour, episode 10.

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[00:02:55]>> [music] >> Minister Cornwall, we want to welcome you to the Minister's Hour. We're up to episode 10, and it's been an absolute amazing season talking to the the ministers um of government. And uh uh you're in the chair this evening. I want to start by, you know, just talking about your your background a little bit and we'll get to know you before we get to into the meat of this evening's discussion. So, tell us about your upbringing, um where you went to school, that sort of thing.

[00:03:25]>> Well, good afternoon, um let me introduce press secretary for the government of Grenada.

[00:03:30]I was born in a place called La Sages, St. Patrick. I grew up there for almost 18 to 19 years.

[00:03:37]I attended the infant school in La Sages. That's the building that is now known as the community center in La Sages.

[00:03:45]It was a much nicer building back then because um over the years they've done some work there.

[00:03:50]And some atrocities destroyed the building.

[00:03:53]The building is currently used as a center for NADMA for um hurricane season. Hurricane shelter. But the building needs some upgrades and the roof is in a disastrous state.

[00:04:09]It's leaking.

[00:04:11]Notwithstanding that, I believe I can move on by saying that I did my primary school education at the River Sallee Government School, my proud alma mater.

[00:04:20]At age 11 plus, I actually won a scholarship back then from the government of Grenada and I was able to attend the St. Andrew's Anglican Secondary School with principal Mr. Creswell Julian, very proud man. Died now, but I'm still very fond of him.

[00:04:37]>> Nice. So, your assessment, tell us how you felt about the double win this year.

[00:04:42]>> I think it was tremendous. SAS did a very wonderful job and I think we'll continue dominating the field of sports in the secondary schools in Grenada.

[00:04:50]>> Were you an athlete yourself, sir?

[00:04:52]>> Oh, yes. I never made it to the big stage, but I was good at shot put, javelin, throwing up the cricket ball.

[00:04:58]In those days, all of these were part of our um sporting activities.

[00:05:02]>> Now, you're like me. I think early on, we were all exposed to sports. I went to St. David's Catholic Secondary School.

[00:05:08]We're also a power house on that stage.

[00:05:10]We've we've um bred several um national and you know, international athletes and I'm we're very proud of that and I think I learned early that I was more into the art side and than the sports side, but you know, I'm forever grateful um for for that um background and that upbringing.

[00:05:28]Um I want to talk a little bit about your journey into this space, into public life. Tell us about that journey.

[00:05:36]>> So, having done very well at my secondary school, in fact, I did almost all the subjects in school and so on. So, at the age 18 plus, I went out to university in Cuba.

[00:05:51]Um when I got there, I was planning to do something called air traffic control.

[00:05:56]However, uh when I got there and I realized that um to do that particular course, I would have had to be part of the military in Cuba to be able to at least get the training necessary. So, I did not pursue the air traffic control.

[00:06:12]I ended up choosing economics.

[00:06:14]>> Mhm.

[00:06:15]>> Economics was very easy for me because back then, you know, I had the history, maths, and some of the science subjects that made it very easy for me to follow through on those um activities. I must tell you I did very well in school.

[00:06:28]>> Mhm.

[00:06:29]>> You know, Cuba has a system whereby the grade system, you go up to five.

[00:06:34]And I graduated with 4.95 as my GPA.

[00:06:38]>> Oh, nice. Congratulations.

[00:06:41]>> Also, during my economic course, I actually um did a Spanish course for 4 years. So, I'm still very much up with my Spanish language.

[00:06:52]And um I've never lost it since I came back from Cuba 40-something years ago. I still continue to speak Spanish very fluently.

[00:06:59]>> Nice.

[00:07:00]>> I interact with people who speak Spanish. And that keeps me on the ball.

[00:07:03]And I do this.

[00:07:04]>> Wonderful. Who would you say was your most inspiring professor or or or leader? Who have you looked up to over the years?

[00:07:12]>> Well, I must say I looked up to my principal at the St. Andrew's Anglican Secondary School back then, Mr. Julian Cressy, OBE.

[00:07:19]He's deceased now, but um everyone who went to St. Andrew's knew Mr. Cresswell Julian would be fond of him. One of his favorite slip um stage I've been through with him. Every time the boys be about in school, the Edmund Gardens and the Smiths, he used to call us, "Old man! Old man, behave yourself!"

[00:07:39]I remember we had done some trouble and he had us sitting on kneeling before something called across in the school and so on. On the clock, on the cross.

[00:07:48]>> Mhm.

[00:07:49]>> And so we were fond of those kind of things.

[00:07:52]We are very mischievous boys, too.

[00:07:54]Mischievous in the sense that we basically put things like um roaches in match boxes and bring it for the girls.

[00:08:01]>> You were a lawyer.

[00:08:02]>> So we did all that in school.

[00:08:05]But we were very brilliant students. We study our study our books and so on and that's why I think I can credit my education today because I took it on very seriously.

[00:08:12]>> Do you think that has influenced your your um leadership style in any way?

[00:08:17]>> Yes, I think it has. I mean I I go back to people like um Carl Taylor who taught me French in school. I did all the language in school, even Latin.

[00:08:27]Mr. Julian taught me Latin in school. I still remember a couple words in Latin and so >> Can you tell us something in Latin?

[00:08:32]>> Ubi fres non est pori.

[00:08:33]>> Okay. That's fast.

[00:08:34]>> have the girls gone to? Ubi fres non est pori. [laughter] And you know the verbs in in in um Latin, one of the famous verb amar.

[00:08:43]>> Amar.

[00:08:43]>> So we used to conjugate that in in present, past, and other >> To love, amar.

[00:08:48]>> Yeah, amo, amas, amat and so on.

[00:08:51]Amabo, amabis all those things we used to be well taught on these things.

[00:08:57]>> What are what what what are or what is one of your fondest [snorts] memories?

[00:09:02]>> My fondest memory in school is having to actually participate in what is called a cross country.

[00:09:08]>> Mhm.

[00:09:08]>> In those days we were in the Simon's Pavilion as a whole school.

[00:09:12]And I never went to look at the the course itself. Because you know you have to follow a course to get back to school at that time.

[00:09:18]We started about 1:00 in the afternoon.

[00:09:21]And all of a sudden I was trying to get back to the school because I got lost in the mountains, especially in Wakukilda.

[00:09:27]I end up in fact Souis.

[00:09:29]So when the kids were supposed to go through by the by the lane by the old Granby Secondary School and get back to school I was So, the way in Souis trying to get back home and When I get there, almost everybody had left the compound already.

[00:09:40]>> You were the last one.

[00:09:42]>> Last one to arrive.

[00:09:43]I never looked at the at the course before, and so I got lost over Cook Hill.

[00:09:48]Um >> That would make a good title for a children's book, lost over Cook Hill.

[00:09:53]>> Cook Hill.

[00:09:53]>> Cook Hill.

[00:09:54]>> Yeah.

[00:09:54]>> Nice. Um Minister, before we actually get into speaking more about your policy and your ministry's um vision for 2026, I want to ask you this question. What motivates you um in in this climate? You you have a really um high-stressed job. Um what motivates you? What keeps you going?

[00:10:15]>> Okay, if you remember, I actually left teaching in late 1989 and joined the Ministry of Finance in the budget department as an economist one.

[00:10:25]I actually grew up in the budget department a very rapid rate.

[00:10:31]I actually rose to the level of um the budget head of budget.

[00:10:38]And you know, in my in central budget, I did debt management for a very long time until I left and passed it on to someone called Natasha Marquis.

[00:10:50]I subsequently went over to Cable & Wireless. I did some 3 years plus in telecommunications.

[00:10:57]Then I left that and I went over to the Eastern Caribbean Home Mortgage Bank in St. Kitts, that's the central bank compound.

[00:11:03]In 2016, after 16 years, I returned to Grenada.

[00:11:07]And I was employed as the CEO of the Grenville Property Corporation Limited, that's the the owners of the mall.

[00:11:15]That's the group the Melville Street Mall.

[00:11:18]>> Mhm.

[00:11:19]>> I was CEO for 5 and 1/2 years there.

[00:11:21]During that period, I was approached by the NDC to join them.

[00:11:28]I couldn't just leave my job like that, so I actually um told them I was going to think about it and get back to them at a later stage.

[00:11:35]To be honest with you, I was not an active person in any political party prior to that.

[00:11:41]I voted, yes, as a citizen of Grenada, but I never was part of a political party. I vote on my conscience. I vote on what I saw was right.

[00:11:50]>> Right.

[00:11:50]>> And so today being in the politics, if you ask me 10 years ago, would I have been in part of politics, I would have told you no.

[00:11:57]>> Right.

[00:11:58]>> But today I am in the politics with the National Democratic Congress. I'm happy to be part of that team that is making a big change in Grenada and Petit Martinique.

[00:12:09]Um apart from the old talk and the rhetoric outside and so on, you know, people does not understand and seem not to understand people's motive or agenda and so on.

[00:12:17]So some people might think that you are selfish, not a people person.

[00:12:23]I would tell you that I have friends all over Grenada.

[00:12:26]And reason being, I am a people's person.

[00:12:29]You may hear people tell you things that in your boyhood days when you were growing up and so on. We hunted crab, manicou, iguana and so on.

[00:12:37]Be it in the sea, in the lake, in the riverside.

[00:12:40]That was part of my fun growing up and so on.

[00:12:43]But I always said to my friends, I took my education seriously because you could not waste your time just chasing the crab and the manicous and being in the river and all those things.

[00:12:53]One of my closer friends, we were all living in Baltimore, I called Elijah and Dwayne.

[00:12:58]Was my best buddy. We did everything on the list, son.

[00:13:03]We had animals to take care of. We had plants to take care of. We had to go and reap the crops and so on. We did all of that.

[00:13:09]Grating coconut to make oil on a Saturday was another thing that we did as a boyhood challenge well because we had to grate a coconut.

[00:13:16]We had to get the oil made and so on. We got it done. So I had a very varied experience as a boy growing up.

[00:13:23]>> Nice.

[00:13:23]>> I missed out on nothing.

[00:13:25]>> That's good.

[00:13:25]>> Yeah.

[00:13:26]>> What legacy, Minister, would you like to leave behind?

[00:13:30]>> Well, as a current parliamentarian and politician Minister of Government I would want to make sure when I exit office sometime in the future that I would leave my mark in Grenada Carriacou and Petite Martinique as one of the better ministers operating within the NDC government. I know it's a hard work. Nothing comes cheap.

[00:13:50]It's hard work. And most people don't understand that when they are sleeping sometimes in a bed, I'm moving from place to place. Sometimes I move from St. Patrick to St. George's because I have work early in the next morning.

[00:14:02]Or my lift St. George's to go to St. Patrick early that afternoon and so on.

[00:14:06]Sometimes I hear people say they don't see the Minister. I'm on the road every single day.

[00:14:10]Every single day. You may not see me because you're in your bed sleeping, but I'm doing the people's work behind the scenes.

[00:14:15]And that's why I tell people that, you know, I'm able to achieve what I've achieved thus far in the last 4 years because of hard work, dedication, and love for my people of Grenada Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

[00:14:24]>> Yes, I heard that um you're one of the ministers who um who has completed pretty much his entire manifesto.

[00:14:32]>> That's all right. I mean, those that I have not actually completed is because they were delayed in the start of and so on. Like, for example, the breakwater project that we are now pursuing has been on the um talk for quite a while now. But again, with the mistakes that were done in the past with the first phase of the breakwater, we had to make sure we got it right this time.

[00:14:52]>> Oh.

[00:14:52]>> We had to make sure that there was a environmental social investigation to make sure that we know what we're doing.

[00:14:59]We had to make sure that there is proper plans in place to make sure that what we are going to build will solve the problem in the lower Beaulieu upsetters cuz the first breakwater project although it saved the lower tongue of upsetters but it damaged the entire lower Beaulieu upsetters settlement.

[00:15:16]And so we have to make it right now. We have to provide the provider the feedback with the plans. We have to provide them with a little livelihood and you have to make sure that what we do that at the end of the day would prevent the sea from crashing on the shoreline and mashing up the road and the drainage and everything there. So, we're looking forward for a very productive and fruitful project under the breakwater.

[00:15:38]>> Nice. If you were not in public life, what do you think you'd be doing right now? And then we take our first break for the evening.

[00:15:45]>> I would have been a good citizen as I am still is because I have always prided myself on being somebody who is contributory to the national agenda, my country.

[00:16:00]I'm also a very hard worker. I'm a retired public servant many years ago.

[00:16:04]I'm a pensioner. I will tell you that because there's no secret about that.

[00:16:09]I mean, although some people talk about, "Oh, well, these ministers are millionaires and so on." I'm not a millionaire.

[00:16:14]I work hard, save my monies, do what I have to do.

[00:16:18]And at the end of the day, I continue to look forward to making a difference in Grenada in the public service and in my country.

[00:16:25]>> And we do thank you for your service, uh Minister Cornwall. This is the Minister's Hour. Stay with us. We have lots more in store when we return.

[00:16:34]>> [music] >> Grenadians at home and across the diaspora, join IMA Grenada at the Grenada Homecoming 2026 [music] Diaspora Forum and Marketplace.

[00:16:46]On Tuesday, 30th June, we participating in the Investment [music] Roundtable.

[00:16:51]Engaging in meaningful conversations on investment opportunity and Grenada's future.

[00:16:57]Whether [music] you're looking to reconnect, explore opportunities, or contribute to national development, we invite you to be part of the [music] discussion from June 30th to July 2nd at the Radisson Convention Centre. You would find the IMA Grenada team ready to inform you on how you could be [music] a part of Grenada's evolution.

[00:17:15]Register at homecoming.gd.

[00:17:18]>> [music] >> We look forward to seeing you there.

[00:17:23]>> And we're back with the Minister's hour.

[00:17:25]We're having a conversation with the Minister for Finance, the Honorable Dennis Cornwall, your SAS boy. He was, you know, just chatting with us about his upbringing, his journey into public life. And, you know, we reminisced a little bit about his days in SAS. All right, and you wanted to what?

[00:17:41]Congratulate the SAS boys and the girls again for the exceptional performance this year. But I did tell him that we're coming back. The other schools are coming back next year for him. So, look out for that, right, Minister?

[00:17:52]>> We're We're We're putting up a resilience that with March, they're coming back.

[00:17:57]>> [laughter] >> Thank you, Minister. We're now about to talk about policy and the Ministry's vision for 2026 and beyond. Now, Minister, as we as we approach the midpoint of 2026, how would you assess Grenada's overall economic and financial performance so far this year?

[00:18:15]>> First of all, thank you for having me, and good day to all your viewers and listeners.

[00:18:21]Undoubtedly, Grenada Grenada's economy continued to show resilience and steady growth in the first half of 2026.

[00:18:29]Despite we are faced with uh global uncertainty, we have maintained macroeconomic stability, strong activity in key sectors such as tourism, construction, and continued progress on our fiscal reform agenda.

[00:18:45]I must also say that um Grenada has experienced difficulties in 2024 as a result of Hurricane Baron, but we were able to at least uh maintain and sustain Grenada throughout.

[00:19:02]It's hard work that pays off at the end of the day.

[00:19:07]We have had many challenges, but we did not lie down or roll.

[00:19:15]We stood up to it, and today we can say Grenada is in a better place.

[00:19:19]>> Nice.

[00:19:20]Nice. Thank you so much for that response. Uh Minister, let's look back a little bit over the past 6 months, right? Um what would you consider the ministry's the ministry's most significant achievement?

[00:19:33]>> Well, the Ministry of Finance has undertaken quite a number of activities, whether it is um change of the new systems, I'm improving our tax collections.

[00:19:45]So, overall, Grenada has achieved strong revenue performance, notwithstanding shortfalls in areas, for example, the petrol tax collection following the institution of the cap of $17.

[00:20:02]Significant internal mobilization of resources, including US $32 million concessionary development loan from the World Bank.

[00:20:11]Continued timely payment of government obligations notwithstanding small hiccups here and there.

[00:20:20]Progress in debt restructuring and efforts to improve Grenada's creditworthiness. I'll go back to that in a while.

[00:20:27]Strengthen resilience, including financial instrument such as the $20 million contingency line of credit with the World Bank support disaster response.

[00:20:38]And we have advanced digital transformation in revenue administration.

[00:20:42]>> Nice. I want to ask a question about GDP.

[00:20:45]In layman's term, could you explain that to the Grenadian public cuz I'm sure we're going to have a quite a a diverse audience listening. So, explain that to us in layman terms.

[00:20:55]>> The gross domestic product, commonly commonly known as the GDP, is the total amount of goods and services that we are able to produce on Grenada, >> Mhm.

[00:21:05]>> which we look at them in various sectors. So, you have the construction sectors, you have the retail and so on sectors, you have the tourism sectors.

[00:21:13]>> Mhm.

[00:21:13]>> You have um education sector and many other sectors. Fishing industries also part of it.

[00:21:19]>> Right.

[00:21:19]>> So, the total of global production of all that Grenada can produce and so on for the country to be able to interact with other states and so on would be what I consider to be GDP.

[00:21:31]>> All right. So, that's a good explanation and I'm We we we hear about the IMF a lot. What is the role of of the IMF?

[00:21:39]>> Well, the Bretton Woods institution including the IMF and World Bank, we are part of those entities and so on.

[00:21:45]They're like the global auditors, police that basically encourage the governments to stay on course with their economic activities and so on.

[00:21:53]>> Yes.

[00:21:54]>> Sometimes you may hear in the past that the IMF was like the devil because they would come and basically impose on you restrictions and restrictions and so on.

[00:22:02]I don't think that is a fair explanation of who the IMF and World Bank are because we have a very good rapport with the IMF and World Bank over the years.

[00:22:11]We get soft loans from the World Bank from under IDA provisions. We have gotten various advice and assistance and support from those entities and so on to guide us along the way.

[00:22:23]And so, I do not see the IMF and World Bank as the devil. I see them as our partners >> Right.

[00:22:28]>> in the economic sphere of things.

[00:22:30]>> Mhm. How often does the IMF come come to check up on us?

[00:22:34]>> Well, the IMF comes on a very regular basis to Grenada. Regular in the sense that we are not under IMF program per se cuz when you have an IMF program from the IMF you have to follow certain path that they dictate to you.

[00:22:49]But, we do have them on a regular basis.

[00:22:51]There is something called the Article IV mission >> Mhm.

[00:22:54]>> where they come and do an overall um review of your policies taxes performance and all the revenue and so on and what you're doing in terms of your programs for the population and so on.

[00:23:06]>> Right.

[00:23:07]>> Over the last uh 4 years probably we have gotten very good commendation from the IMF and World Bank in what we have done, how we have handled the the economy of Grenada.

[00:23:18]Even if we had for example barrel in 2004 >> 2024 >> Yes, we have not failed to at least provide the Grenadian public with various services and we were commended for how we dealt with the crisis that followed from 2024 hurricane season and so on.

[00:23:37]Today we continue to build on our successes and we also on track to maintain a sustainable Grenada.

[00:23:44]>> Does the IMF make recommendations for um improving the economic status >> Certainly.

[00:23:51]>> All of our fiscal policies and rules and so on, we run it by them.

[00:23:55]They would basically provide us with advice.

[00:23:57]>> Mhm.

[00:23:58]>> It's up to you to take the advice. They are not mandating that we do X, Y, and Z.

[00:24:02]They provide you the best advice they can and on such we use those advice to at least build on our local stance and to make sure we can improve our fiscal position in Grenada.

[00:24:14]>> Wonderful. Well, Minister, I have another question for you. Now, many Grenadians hear economic statistics but want to know what they mean in practical terms. How would you describe the current state of the economy to an average citizen?

[00:24:32]>> Well, Grenada is in a good position uh despite I follow all kind of stories from social media and people out there who are trying to make a claim Grenada in a bad state.

[00:24:45]There are people out there currently who says that Grenada is in a tailspin. We are broke and all those kind of things.

[00:24:52]That doesn't make sense to me when Grenada is in a position to collect its revenue and to meet its expenditure on a ongoing basis.

[00:25:02]So, Grenada is in a healthy position, stable.

[00:25:08]It has resources to back it up because we have put aside funds for rainy days.

[00:25:14]We have paid our cat insurance on time and so we are covered on time and so we are covered under the grief um program as we speak. So, in the event of a hurricane or other natural disasters, if we actually able to um meet the criteria set up by grief insurance, we would be able to at least to get some finances just like we did in 20 24, 14 days after the passage of Hurricane Barrel, we were able to at least benefit from 44 million US which is approximately 118 million EC dollars.

[00:25:46]Now, if we did not have that in place, we would not have been able to benefit or have a kick start when we had Hurricane Barrel. Let me go over to the to say there are a lot of old talk outside about if the NNP did not put that in place, um we would not have had a chance of getting the money. An insurance policy operates this way.

[00:26:07]You are required to pay a premium on an annual basis. If you didn't pay your premium, your insurance would lapse.

[00:26:12]>> Mhm.

[00:26:13]>> When I got into the Ministry of Finance or when we got in in the government, we had a situation whereby [clears throat] there were contemplations of not paying the premium because for 17 years in a in advance, we were paying that um insurance, but we did not get any benefit. In other words, there was no um disaster that triggered payment on time.

[00:26:34]>> So, in 20 17 there about, there were talks about um lapsing the insurance, not paying it and so.

[00:26:43]And so, when we got into office, we said we were not going on that line of trying to lapse that insurance. We're going to continue paying the insurance so that in the event something happens.

[00:26:53]And so said those are so done.

[00:26:55]Shortly thereafter, we paid up premium.

[00:26:57]Hurricane Barry hit us in 2020 >> 2024 >> July.

[00:27:03]And so that we were able to benefit from that 118 million EC dollars.

[00:27:06]>> And of course now Assuria and Guardian Life also benefited.

[00:27:08]>> Assuria and Guardian Life joined just before that. In fact, so the very the before the hurricane hit us and so on. Assuria just >> Mhm.

[00:27:18]>> finished paying the premium.

[00:27:19]I think without that, we would have had a very difficult time to state certain services like water and electricity in this country.

[00:27:27]Again, I must tell you that we are current with our premium to CCRIF.

[00:27:32]Last year, we paid 1.8 million US dollars as our amounts to CCRIF.

[00:27:38]And this is so far we just paid over 2 million dollars US for that insurance coverage.

[00:27:43]>> Right.

[00:27:43]>> So, we are on track. We are up-to-date.

[00:27:45]And in the event of a disaster, we can piggyback on our insurance.

[00:27:49]>> I see. We are in the hurricane season, so >> season is on. We are in June right now, June >> 15th.

[00:27:56]>> 15th today.

[00:27:57]>> Mhm.

[00:27:58]>> And knock on wood, so far we have not had any problems, but we cannot keep our eyes shut from what is potentially possible, so I did.

[00:28:06]>> True.

[00:28:07]>> So, I would advise our people, our population, be prepared, stay focused, and not follow these stories about, you know, we should not build or we should not create activities in >> Right, nice. I want to ask this very important question before we take our next break. Um many people judge the economy by what they see in their communities, jobs, business activity, infrastructure, and opportunities. What are some of the positive signs that Grenadians can see for themselves today?

[00:28:39]>> Well, in a sense, if you drive around Grenada, in every constituency, every parish, you will notice that there are activities under the gun.

[00:28:50]Currently, for example, as this week, we are basically publishing most of our health centers throughout Grenada.

[00:28:56]Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

[00:28:58]You may hear where the health system is in very poor condition and so on.

[00:29:02]The health system didn't wake up yesterday and found itself in a bad situation.

[00:29:06]It was over a number of years of neglect that our medical stations, health centers had fallen into the demise that they are in right now. But we are currently building back all or most of those health centers.

[00:29:22]Our current hospital, you'll hear that there is no medication in the hospital or the hospital is in very poor condition. People go there and they die and so on. That doesn't happen overnight.

[00:29:31]We continue to improve what we have at the hospital there. But I must tell you there are challenges there.

[00:29:38]Even our equipment at the current hospital, sea blast is having a fair game on it and so on because we were warned in the past that that location was not the best location to build the hospital.

[00:29:48]But we went there and built it. So today we are faced with sea blast. Mhm.

[00:29:52]The actual road access to the hospital is in a very poor condition. We know that for a very long time now. Yet we built a hospital there.

[00:29:58]>> And it's one way in, one way out.

[00:29:59]>> out. No parking.

[00:30:01]Perfect scenario for disaster.

[00:30:04]>> Yeah.

[00:30:04]>> If you have a If you have an emergency, a very big one, you would be mad trying to get in the hospital and so on.

[00:30:11]So I believe that when we talk about um our health sector, we have to look at and look forward to the improvement that we are doing right now, as well as building that new hospital that we talked about in the Calivigny Westerhall area.

[00:30:26]It will help with Grenada in a very big way.

[00:30:29]Medication is always something [snorts] that people talks about. Oh, they didn't have any other medication.

[00:30:35]Do you know that the government of Grenada can only access certain types of medication so on amounts of medication. we cannot give you everything >> Mhm.

[00:30:44]>> that you want. And we cannot give you free because it costs money to get everything that we put into the hospital.

[00:30:51]Sometimes you would say, "Well, okay, I can't find painkillers." Well, there are painkillers in the private um pharmacies around the country. Yes, it might cost a bit more than you find within the hospital.

[00:31:03]But what people have to understand, government cannot give you every single thing free.

[00:31:10]Because they don't come free. They cost the population. They cost the taxpayers to be able to put them there and so on.

[00:31:16]So, what I would encourage people is and so on to put some skin in the game in some cases and to understand that the government has tried his best, he's doing his best to improve our health situation in Grenada. [clears throat] >> Mhm.

[00:31:32]>> We have other areas that we have actually been doing. I mean, again, housing has been a very big challenge for the government of Grenada.

[00:31:39]After the passage of Hurricane Barrel, we have a treaty to implement several programs to improve the housing situation in Grenada. We have the Build Back Better Homes. We have the special housings.

[00:31:49]We have the material program going on.

[00:31:51]And again, people, those of us who can afford to contribute to the building of our homes, do so because government does not have an endless pit of money to give everybody a free house in Grenada. It's totally not possible.

[00:32:06]So, you know, when I get challenged on the road or what, I beg you for a house. I beg you for a material here and there and so on and you haven't given it to me.

[00:32:13]The question is, can I give you everything that you ask me for there?

[00:32:15]The answer to that is no.

[00:32:17]So, I'm begging people who can actually afford it to help themselves. Help yourself.

[00:32:22]Don't depend on government to give you everything because if you if you do that, you would be disappointing yourself and you would put the government in a bind that we are not able to sustain.

[00:32:31]>> Right.

[00:32:32]Thank you, Minister. This is the Minister's Hour. We take another break.

[00:32:36]When we come back, we want to talk about economic performance and development.

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[00:33:45]>> [music] [music] >> We are back with Minister for Finance, the Honorable Dennis Cornwall. Uh Minister, we've been having a great conversation so far. I want to continue this conversation by asking you this important question. Now, Grenada continues to be recognized as one of the most and one of the stronger performing economies in the region. What factors do you think are driving this performance?

[00:34:23]>> So, if I may say that Grenada is one of the more disciplined countries and economy in the OECS.

[00:34:32]In fact, we are probably one of the fastest growing economies in the OECS.

[00:34:38]Outside of the OECS and the wider CARICOM, apart from Guyana that has found oil and gas and is growing at a very rapid rate, Grenada is growing at around 4.4% in 2025 and should continue to grow above 3% in the coming years and so on.

[00:35:00]>> Nice.

[00:35:00]>> What is driving those things? As I said, we have um been very disciplined in managing our economy. We look out for collecting our revenues on a timely basis both in customs and in the revenue department. We do have challenges in some of our personnel, our customers, our Grenadians who still have not been very forthcoming with paying of their tax. We have challenges there.

[00:35:26]I will tell you that back in 2003, Grenada did provide the population, the tax-paying population, with an amnesty.

[00:35:34]Those who are challenged in paying their tax to come in and pay the principal amount and we forgo all the print the interest and penalties that were on their on their account.

[00:35:43]Still, we have a lot of persons who have second years of government and have not been up well up front in paying their arrears of tax.

[00:35:52]Now, I will say to you that your tax obligation will never go away.

[00:35:56]It will continue to haunt you as long as you live.

[00:35:58]So, it's better to come forward and make good your payments when you can so that at the end of the day the government will not be forced to basically garnish your assets and wages or income or savings in the bank or even forced to sell your property if need be and so on. So, we are encouraging people to be forthcoming. Pay your tax.

[00:36:22]Engage the revenue department. Engage them in a meaningful way. Don't don't that you're going to come and do something and you didn't do it on time.

[00:36:30]If you do that, your problem can only grow bigger. Your burdens become heavier.

[00:36:35]And at the end of the day, we have to basically take steps to cover or recover, sorry, the government revenue.

[00:36:42]>> Thank you. Thank you, Minister. I'm now global uncertainty remains a concern for all of us, not just Grenada, um but for many of the the countries in the region and probably the world. Um how how vulnerable is Grenada and how prepared are we?

[00:36:58]>> Well, Grenada is part of a global environment. In other words, we are not an isolated island in a vacuum.

[00:37:09]So, whatever happens, let's say in the Middle East, that creates the condition for oil and gas or diesel to be rising.

[00:37:20]It will affect not only Grenada but the rest of the world.

[00:37:23]So, you have shortages here and there.

[00:37:25]You have crisis here and there.

[00:37:27]Right now, the current um price of gasoline, diesel, another type of energy is on the rise in Grenada. We have no control over that.

[00:37:37]Because let's say, for example, the confusion that is going on right now in the Middle East, which has caused um production of oil and gas and diesel and so on to be reduced or it can't get to its destination and so on. That has spiked the price of those commodities and so on.

[00:37:56]You know for a fact that we use those commodities in our daily lives.

[00:38:01]Whether we are in school, we're in the tourism sector, we're in the farms, we are now paying more for those commodities.

[00:38:10]Now, I am not denying that price of cost of living is rising is growing in Grenada, but so too is growing everywhere in the world.

[00:38:19]I believe if we manage ourselves better, I'm talking about managing ourselves as a population we can do a lot more and so.

[00:38:28]People complain that their electricity bill is high. Yes, it is.

[00:38:32]But, if you continue to use your service in a way that is not sustainable, it will come back to haunt you.

[00:38:41]Electricity price is up at the moment because electricity goes into everything we do.

[00:38:46]But, we cannot allow Grenlec as a company to hit the dust because we want to take advantage of the I that government has to be there to back you.

[00:38:57]Allow us to hit dust.

[00:39:01]So, yes, we do things like minimize the amount of times you utilize your refrigerator.

[00:39:08]Cut back on leaving all these extra lights on in your house and so on.

[00:39:12]Reduce your entertainment because again people leave their music on all day and so on and they don't care.

[00:39:19]The same thing happens with our people who drive on the road.

[00:39:22]You drive on the road going nowhere and fast.

[00:39:26]What do you think is pushing the vehicle? Gasoline or diesel?

[00:39:28]>> Right.

[00:39:29]>> So, the faster you drive, the more you'll you lose.

[00:39:32]We have a idea in Grenada that most of the things that we consume comes from abroad. At least 90% of our input in Grenada food is coming from outside.

[00:39:43]We importing like fish chicken for the most part.

[00:39:48]And we don't understand if we do those things right here in Grenada we can cut back on our consumption.

[00:39:55]So, it's not only the government to come and give you tax break here and tax break there and remove VAT and remove this. That alone cannot help.

[00:40:02]>> Right.

[00:40:03]>> Because you could cut all the VAT on it in Grenada and so on and the price will still be up there and so on.

[00:40:08]So, I would say to people and so on your lifestyle, your way of doing business and so on could help reduce your cost of living.

[00:40:17]>> Right. So, there has been a lot of a lot of talk, social media talks, and you know, commentary on inflation and the cost of living, right? Um what is government doing to help um citizens?

[00:40:29]>> Our government has done a lot, and I hear the story out there that oh, well, that was not implemented by government again. Now, it was done by the former administration. Take, for example, the price of a 20-lb cylinder that is pegged to $40 on a daily basis.

[00:40:44]The true cost of that 20-lb cylinder is not $40. It's over 80, something close to $100 right now.

[00:40:50]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:40:51]>> The 200-lb cylinder, well, there's no ceiling on it. But right now, it's way over $300 plus, right?

[00:41:00]We have taken initiative to help the population by giving them a $10 um premium on the bill.

[00:41:08]Meaning that before you even pay a dollar on your bill, the government has already given you $10.

[00:41:14]We have also done several other things. We have zero-rated a number of food items and goods that you use on a daily basis, like personal items and things like soaps and other personal cleaning products.

[00:41:30]>> Mhm.

[00:41:31]>> But you cannot continue to give tax break on everything because again, the government has a country to run.

[00:41:39]And we can only run this country if we have revenue.

[00:41:42]Oh, well, we should put it the cap back at $15. What does the cap of $15 do for us right now when the gas price is what, 21, $22 in real time?

[00:41:53]>> Mhm.

[00:41:53]>> So, it means government is still absorbing some of those those costs in a big way.

[00:41:59]Can we continue to do that forever?

[00:42:00]>> Right.

[00:42:01]>> Answer is no.

[00:42:03]>> Right.

[00:42:04]Thank you so much. There has also been the public transport subsidy that was introduced um to bus drivers, I believe.

[00:42:12]Yeah, recently.

[00:42:14]>> Yes, well, in some cases, some routes have been given certain discounts.

[00:42:21]Um we know for over 17 years about bus pricing Grenada has not been increased.

[00:42:28]And just see that way.

[00:42:32]If government should give an increase to the bus drivers or the bus associations for their operations.

[00:42:40]That does not only government.

[00:42:42]>> It affects everybody.

[00:42:43]>> Everybody.

[00:42:45]The workers that have to go to work, the children that have to go to school.

[00:42:48]Even the bus driver themselves.

[00:42:51]It would affect them.

[00:42:52]So yes, I believe that we deserve to give them a an incentive.

[00:42:58]What it be gas rebates, concession and parts and so on.

[00:43:02]However, we cannot just willingly do that. We have to basically analyze the impact of what that would be on the population.

[00:43:09]>> Right.

[00:43:10]>> So you get up every morning and you give them a dollar on the on the on the fare.

[00:43:14]That would only be a setback on the population who still bawling that things are hard for them and so on.

[00:43:19]So you have to look at it in a way that you can balance what they're asking for and what you're able to give.

[00:43:24]>> That's true. That's true.

[00:43:26]>> Because there is no free meal in this country. Everybody has to understand that there is no free meal.

[00:43:31]One hand doesn't clap.

[00:43:33]It takes a party to basically make it up.

[00:43:37]>> Nice. Thank you for that response. Um Minister, government implemented um several measures following Hurricane Beryl. Some of these measures um will expire at the end of June. Um for example, the concessions on building materials. What can you tell us about government's plans regarding continued support of Beryl recovery?

[00:43:59]>> Well, in 2024 after Beryl, the government has moved in and tried to basically provide incentives for Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique, not the whole of Grenada, I would say for the north of Grenada, a citizen of surrounding areas, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

[00:44:18]We have basically, um, postponed the payment of property tax, for example, for everybody living in Carriacou and Petite Martinique because of the level of devastation.

[00:44:29]And that went on for over a year.

[00:44:33]Even as we speak right now, there are still people in Carriacou who have not gotten back to the level where they were in terms of their businesses and so on.

[00:44:41]So, we look at it right now on a case-by-case basis because we have started again charging property property tax on Carriacou and Petite Martinique and so on on a selective basis. We sent off our, um, tax collectors. We review what is happening in Carriacou and so on and where there is total recovery or improvement and so on, we would basically start taxing these people because we cannot continue running Carriacou without tax.

[00:45:10]Um, Carriacou tax liability is significant and all those small in the context of the whole of Grenada, we believe we must continue to tax where possible.

[00:45:24]On Grenada, we have provided incentives to the farmers to get back into the business of farming. In fact, the Ministry of Agriculture provided incentive of 30 200 over 34 million dollars for farmers and fisher folks to get them to pull their boats from the marine areas where they were those that were damaging the mangroves, provided them with engines and some monies. In the agricultural sector, persons owning land five acres or less, they got 4,500 dollars.

[00:45:56]Those who have over five acres of land, they got 9,000 dollars.

[00:46:02]I would tell you that the payout has been significant. But you would still know here outside that some people saying that they didn't get what the government said they would.

[00:46:09]Totally victimize them because they didn't give them enough.

[00:46:13]I'm saying that although the crowd said that we got a lot a lot of money in the zone. Where did the money go?

[00:46:19]Look around Grenada right now. In less than 2 years we have rehabilitated homes in St. Patrick's, Carriacou, Petit Martinique.

[00:46:26]Farms in some areas in the zone.

[00:46:29]We continue to make sure that the farmers are assisted in terms of um the planting material.

[00:46:37]Manure and all those things and so on.

[00:46:39]What more the government can do to keep itself afloat. Because you cannot give everything you have. If you do that you're in trouble.

[00:46:48]>> Thank you, Minister. And on that note we take our next break. And when we come back we talk fiscal management and government finances. Stay with us.

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[00:48:06]>> And we're back. We're having a conversation with the Minister for Finance, the Honorable Dennis Cornwall.

[00:48:11]Minister, we are up to that point where we want to talk to you about fiscal management and government finances. So, here's your question. How would you describe government's fiscal position at this time?

[00:48:24]>> Currently, the fiscal position of Grenada remains stable, supported by strong revenue performance, strategic external resource mobilization, and a disciplined expenditure management.

[00:48:39]Economic activity, improved compliance, and strengthening and strengthen revenue administration systems are key deliveries.

[00:48:47]Now, you would recall that um in January of this year, we implemented a new payment system to streamline and make it more accurate and timely in our payments. Yes, there were challenges because we have a situation where we had some bugs that we had to clean up and so on.

[00:49:09]On the revenue side of things, I think revenue from inner revenue the arrears, we have been over performing at performing at this point in time. In other words, trying to get our people to comply.

[00:49:25]So, I can tell you at this stage that our revenue has slightly surpassed its target, especially on the arrears of revenue collection.

[00:49:36]The inner revenue inner revenue department has implemented what is called a G tax, the Grenada tax, last year.

[00:49:45]And so far, we have rolled out in different phases tax types. So, for example, in the in the earlier part of the rollout, we had the CIT and PIT. CIT means um commercial tax income tax, and PIT personal income tax.

[00:50:04]I must say to you that um that is one of the one of the main areas that we actually collect our revenues.

[00:50:11]But, we also collect revenues from individuals who own property.

[00:50:16]Albeit, I'll be sorry. We have some um challenges in there. Still, some people believe that they shouldn't pay tax on their property.

[00:50:24]Some people believe that they can get away with not paying tax.

[00:50:27]And I've said to you you before that tax compliance is required, is necessary, because it give us the wherewithal, the sustainability to be able to run this country in an effective manner.

[00:50:40]I also want to commend the Customs Department for making sure that they collect the due share of the revenues that is due to the government of Grenada.

[00:50:50]I must say that there are some persons outside there who don't like to comply with the laws.

[00:50:55]You tell them, for example, the age limit on importing a vehicle into Grenada at this point in time is 5 years and less.

[00:51:05]But, you have people coming with vehicles 10 years plus. In fact, I had a situation the other day where a guy came with a Audi vehicle for concession. The vehicle was 33 years old.

[00:51:17]Now, why are you going to bring this?

[00:51:19]How long would it run in Grenada's road without ending up on the the the dump site?

[00:51:25]We believe that people have to adhere to some of the measures that we have taken to basically ensure that we collect good revenues.

[00:51:34]We are not happy to be penalizing you when you commit it.

[00:51:38]But, it's a deterrent when you basically commit a vehicle that is over 5 years.

[00:51:42]The government may allow you in some cases to pay fines or fees and but it's not the norm.

[00:51:47]We would then move to another stage where we take harsher measures.

[00:51:51]Whereby if you bring it in the country, you would have to ship it out with wholly the shipping agency responsible for it.

[00:51:58]We'd move to put laws in place to protect what we are doing in those circumstances and so on.

[00:52:03]But we urge you to adhere to the rules and regulation.

[00:52:07]We have lowered the tax on things like EV, that's um >> electric >> electrical vehicles as well as hybrid vehicles.

[00:52:15]So over time it becomes cheaper for you to buy a hybrid or electrical vehicle brand new.

[00:52:23]We do not want you to continue polluting your country by bringing in vehicles over 10 years and so on into the country.

[00:52:31]And then it end up on somebody's property or end up on the roadside.

[00:52:35]>> And then MIT have to >> And then MIT have to basically tag them and tow them away and so on at your expense.

[00:52:42]Some people believe that because the government has not moved on the moved on placing the charge on them for moving those vehicles, that it's something that they can continue doing and so on.

[00:52:52]There would come a time that when we move your vehicle, you would have to go and make good with the government of Grenada for having moved your vehicle. So, I'm advocating try and comply with the laws of the land, try and comply with what we have put down as policy for government of Grenada and make your life easy.

[00:53:10]>> Another question for you. As it relates to vehicles, is it true that we get a 100% concession on electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles?

[00:53:19]>> The concession on electrical vehicles is between 75% and 100%. I think the the the the hybrid is 75%.

[00:53:31]>> Right.

[00:53:32]>> The cost of these vehicles right now may may appear to be high.

[00:53:36]But the electrical vehicle can take you 15 years before you have to at least um >> Mhm.

[00:53:40]>> change on major part major parts and so on.

[00:53:42]The same thing with the hybrid that use both gasoline and diesel and electric.

[00:53:49]But again, if we notice what is happening the world where oil and gas is concerned, we are paying a lot for those commodities.

[00:53:59]If we import more EVs and hybrid vehicles and so on, over time, we cut back the amount of oil and gas we consume consuming greater. We don't go to use them as yet.

[00:54:10]So, take advantage of those EVs and hybrid vehicles and minimize your headache where gas is concerned on the road.

[00:54:17]>> Nice. And then >> Government is going to change all its fleet of vehicles as an example to the rest of the population that this probably is the way to go.

[00:54:26]And it will help us manage our energy consumption in Grenada.

[00:54:31]>> Nice. Thank you. And then final question on that. A question came in a couple weeks ago on DMs with PM um as it relates to vintage cars. Somebody had a question about bringing in two vintage cars. Um I'm not sure well vintage cars clearly are more than likely is more than 10 years old. Um how would we deal with that?

[00:54:51]>> Well, if you're bringing in a vintage car to run it on the road, I would say no. In fact, the laws does not permit that. You can bring a vintage car but park up on your lot of land somewhere and so on.

[00:55:00]>> Yeah, or in a museum.

[00:55:01]>> Or in a museum somewhere. I don't think nothing is wrong with that.

[00:55:03]>> Okay.

[00:55:04]>> But don't bring out all the years 33 years old and tell me you intend to run that on the road. I don't make any sense.

[00:55:08]>> Right. Understood. All right. So, our next question to you um Minister, why is timely payment of government obligations so important?

[00:55:17]>> Well, timely payment of government obligations to the population, to business people, and other persons that we owe or we have an obligation to pay is very critical because we do not only pay debts, we pay for goods and services over there. We pay contributions to international organizations because they provide us with service on an annual basis and so on. So, yes, it is very important to pay your dues on time.

[00:55:44]Even paying off your public servants or paying off your contractors and so on is something that we have aspired to make sure that um I'm not saying that we run a perfect system because from time to time there are glitches and we have to basically find solutions to those glitches.

[00:55:57]>> Yes. So, how is government balancing investment and fiscal discipline?

[00:56:04]>> Well, you have to put a balance in terms of um fiscal discipline and how we basically address those investors.

[00:56:13]There are investors that come to our shores and so on to invest in things like hotels, businesses, and so on.

[00:56:20]We give them up front a certain level of concessions to get that done.

[00:56:24]But I must warn that concession is not for life.

[00:56:28]We hope that by the time you get on stream you'll be able to at least um start generating revenues and so on that those concessions would over time phase out.

[00:56:38]We cannot continue to give concession to all businesses and so on unlimitedly because at the end of the day we need to be able to collect some revenues to continue to do what we are asked to do.

[00:56:51]So, the hotels, yes, they have gotten concessions. Some of them need more, but we cannot continue to give everybody for life. That doesn't make sense.

[00:57:00]>> Mhm. Okay. On the topic of um resilience and disaster disaster preparedness, and we spoke about a little about that earlier. We talked about the Caribbean insurance. Um what progress have we made so far in resilience building?

[00:57:15]>> Well, we have made some progress in a number of reasons and there's still a lot more to be done. You know, we have set the rise NADMA. NADMA is now supposed to be able to at least um take on a number of things that they were not able to do in the past because they were on a voluntary basis.

[00:57:30]So, NADMA continue to provide training for the staff and volunteers and so on.

[00:57:35]They have actually um created enough storage space to hold some of the goods and services that we would need during a disaster, like the food and equipment and those things, which is good.

[00:57:49]But, we as ourselves as a population, we also have to harden our our security and our disaster preparedness. You can't depend on the government throughout for doing that for you and so on.

[00:58:02]So, the overhanging that we continue to be asking people to at least cut on the road and so on, is something that I believe needs needed.

[00:58:09]But, again, you have to be careful how you cut the overhanging onions and so on because you can kill the tree, loosen the soil at the end of the day, and we have landslides.

[00:58:16]We have had a very tough period this first half of the year.

[00:58:21]We had a lot of dry season, a lot of sun.

[00:58:25]Our earth is parched.

[00:58:27]Now, the rains are falling. We have to be careful because if it falls too much in one day, you can cause major landslides. So, we have to prepare for those kind of thing. Clean your drains, clean your bridges, the box drains that you have around the place.

[00:58:40]And of course, I think another thing that we have to do is to stop littering in public.

[00:58:44]>> That's true.

[00:58:45]>> You go to some places and so on, you find in the bushes all kind of white goods, construction materials, debris of all kind.

[00:58:52]We need to basically clean up the place.

[00:58:57]And doing so will help ourselves at the end of the day. There will be less flooding, there will be less rivers breaking the bank and so on.

[00:59:03]>> Mhm.

[00:59:04]>> Less falling trees.

[00:59:05]Look at for example, when we had Ivan, we had tonnadoes in the south and so on.

[00:59:09]Most of our trees were uprooted. How many of us have gone back and plant some of those trees?

[00:59:13]>> Where those came from, yes.

[00:59:15]>> And this is why I believe that we have to organize a serious replanting season in Grenada.

[00:59:20]And I'm happy that the diaspora is going to be participating in something like that in the upcoming homecoming that is there.

[00:59:25]>> Mhm.

[00:59:25]>> Because if you go to Grenada, you see a lot vines but not trees.

[00:59:29]The trees are fallen and nobody has gone there and >> replanted >> replanted them. They have not been doing the same thing. Farmers have not gone back and planted them as they should.

[00:59:36]So, we need to do a lot more to help ourselves and not depend only on NADMA as an entity to do it for us.

[00:59:42]>> Minister, how are we as a government integrating climate change into our planning?

[00:59:48]>> Well, we are very big on climate change and so on. We have an entire ministry, climate resilience, that is doing a lot of work to make sure that we can build sustainability and strategies to take us forward.

[00:59:59]But again, it cannot be done by a simple ministry.

[01:00:02]It has to be done by all of us. We have to be all participating in making it up.

[01:00:06]>> Yes. Thank you so much. We want to wrap up this evening's episode of the Minister's Hour. I have just a few more questions as we as we move to close this evening.

[01:00:17]What is international recognition for for resilience? What does that look like?

[01:00:24]>> Well, the terminology may sound big, but what it says is that we have to adopt some of the standards that are taken internationally, regionally, and otherwise.

[01:00:35]>> Mhm.

[01:00:36]>> If we follow those policies and regimes and so on, we could be in a better place and so on.

[01:00:41]>> Yes.

[01:00:42]>> Take for example, a simple one.

[01:00:44]Prepare for Grenada.

[01:00:46]Grenada has basically put aside a fund at the St. Caribbean Central Bank.

[01:00:53]Every month, we put aside some funds. I think it's 10% of the national uh national development fund.

[01:01:03]Through the CBI, it's placed in that account and so on. The last time I looked at the figures, it's over 60 something million US dollars put aside.

[01:01:09]>> That's good.

[01:01:10]>> And we are not spending that kind of money and so on. That's one of the ways we build sustainability should something happen to us. It's like an insurance policy.

[01:01:18]We have been paying, as I said, our cliff insurance, which is now about $2 million per year premium.

[01:01:24]And that is to make sure that should something happen on the road, we can get happy out again and so on.

[01:01:29]But we also have to maintain ourselves, maintain our drains, maintain our rivers.

[01:01:35]People don't understand the rivers in Grenada are the lifeblood of the country.

[01:01:39]If you block it up and so on, the first two sets are in the gutters and so on.

[01:01:43]We get all the floods. We get all the debris coming in the rivers and so on it ends up on Battery Beach, where I'm called every Monday morning to go and clean it.

[01:01:52]I'm saying that we have to also implement voluntary services in the country. You don't expect the government to do everything for you.

[01:01:59]You have to basically put some skin in the game in some places to make sure the things happen.

[01:02:03]Look at our um coastal areas and so forth right now that we are rehabilitating at this point in time and subsequently build a breakwater.

[01:02:12]The entire east coast of Grenada is challenged with sea level rising and so on.

[01:02:19]If we don't manage our debris on the land and so on, or garbage on the land and so on, it ends up in the ocean.

[01:02:24]It will kill our fishes and so on. Our turtles would eat it. Our fishes would eat it and so on.

[01:02:29]And you may surprise to know it may end up in our system. We have high incidence of cancer in Grenada. We don't know what's causing it and so on.

[01:02:36]But >> They're all those factors.

[01:02:38]>> All these things can be impacting on what we are doing and how our livelihood.

[01:02:43]>> Minister, as we close, I want to talk to you about Grenada's economic future.

[01:02:48]What what's in store for us?

[01:02:50]>> I think Grenada's economic future is bright.

[01:02:54]And I'm saying that in a bold way.

[01:02:56]I'm also saying that we will be faced with a lot of challenges and so on.

[01:03:01]In the geopolitical world right now outside there, a lot is happening everywhere, which will impact on every one of us in this global environment.

[01:03:13]States will disappear. Countries will no longer exist because of the high levels of um sea rise and so but we all have to move to the stage where we can take care of ourselves. Food security is a big thing for us and so on.

[01:03:30]We continue to import large quantities of food from other countries and so on.

[01:03:33]We have very fertile fertile soil soil in Grenada.

[01:03:36]We can grow these same foods.

[01:03:38]Inculcating our kids and so on, these are the better foods to eat. It's safer.

[01:03:41]It's We know where it comes from. We don't know what amount of chemicals it put you know, they have to get to work shoes and so on.

[01:03:47]So, we have to basically build on our food security also to help us sustain ourselves in the future.

[01:03:54]Our poultry industry is in crisis right now.

[01:03:58]Companies have been closing down because they cannot meet their obligations and so on. Right?

[01:04:03]We still continue to import things like back and neck and wings and so on from other places and so on. We don't know how long they were slaughtered.

[01:04:09]How long they're sitting containers on the sea and so on, but it appears here and it's cheaper.

[01:04:14]>> Mhm.

[01:04:14]>> So, we can't consume a lot of that.

[01:04:16]So, I would encourage people to at least get back into farming seriously and so on. You can do backyard gardening and so on. You can do a little kitchen coops in the back >> Mhm.

[01:04:26]>> or a coop or coop in the back of the house and so on and where you grow your own chicken for yourself.

[01:04:31]But, we have to cut back on importation of split chicken.

[01:04:34]>> What's next for you, Minister?

[01:04:37]>> Next for me is to continue helping the government of Grenada, the people of Grenada, and to improve what we are doing here.

[01:04:44]So, you can rest assured I'll be around for a very long time.

[01:04:48]With the good with the with the blessings and the grace of God, I think I'll be able to do it down there.

[01:04:52]>> Thank you so much. Minister, it has been an absolute pleasure to chat with you this evening. We are preparing to celebrate government's fourth year, and um what are your final thoughts? And can you just reflect on your the last 4 years as the Minister for Finance, as the the the public servant who is serving his people in St. Patrick, reflect on your final thoughts for this evening.

[01:05:17]>> Well, I think there are great things happening for Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

[01:05:22]I continue to have hope, great expectations for Grenada.

[01:05:28]Grenada is well poised, at least, to do great things for its people.

[01:05:34]With regard to the last 4 years, I think we have challenged every entity sector that was lagging behind and so on. The roads, the buildings, the schools, the health centers. All people, we have trained them, we have given them additional scholarships and so on.

[01:05:51]But, there's a lot more to be done still and so on.

[01:05:54]>> Minister, it has been an absolute pleasure for you to be on the Minister's Hour. This is episode 10 and I'm so thrilled just to to be here with you and to have this conversation with you, to get to know you a little bit more and to get to understand how the Ministry of Finance works. It has uh been a great season so far. We have a few more ministers to um sitting the chair. Um but at this time, we want to thank you for joining us and we're getting ready for Diaspora Homecoming. Um it's right around the corner. So, we're getting also ready to welcome our our our citizens from the Diaspora to the shores of Grenada. We want to welcome you back and I want to say thank you once again for joining us on this week's episode of the Minister's Hour. We'll see you next time.

[01:06:35]>> Thank you, Press Secretary. It was a pleasure being here to impart some of my information on the >> Wonderful.

[01:06:41]>> Okay. Thank you.

[01:06:42]Right.

[01:06:43]Good.

[01:06:57]>> [music] [music] [music]