MITCHELL: Absolutely no Truth ……

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The New Today

Week ending Mar 13, 2010

THE NEW TODAY - Week ending Mar 13, 2010

….. But Stanford Tight Lipped

Two bitter rivals, former Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell and Baptist minister, Pastor Stanford Simon have given different reactions to widespread reports circulating in the country that they held private meetings in Happy Hill in recent days to bury their differences.

"No comment, no comment", was the reaction of Pastor Simon, the leader of the flock at St. George's Baptist Church in Springs, St. George's. However, Dr. Mitchell, the current Opposition Leader and head of the New National Party (NNP) has denied holding private discussions of a political nature with the outspoken religious leader.

Dr. Mitchell told The New Today newspaper that it is nothing but "rumors", "clearly not (and) absolutely not true" and that the island had become "a place of rumors". Supporters of Dr. Mitchell's own party in his St. George North-west constituency have been talking about seeing Pastor Simon sitting on their leader's verandah at Happy Hill and engaging in discussions with their leader.

Immediately after Tuesday's sitting of the House of Representatives, the former Prime Minister was asked to comment on the alleged meeting with Pastor Simon whom he had accused in the past of being an operative of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of current Prime Minister, Tillman Thomas.

Dr. Mitchell said that what he believe is happening is that the minute someone does not appear to be no longer hostile to another person or refrain from cussing they are soon branded as being in bed with that person.

"The minute a person doesn't persist in the harassment, character assassination of individuals that means that they are in bed with that person", he remarked. The ex-Grenadian leader called on his countrymen to "lift our politics to a higher level".

" ...We must stop this whole issue of destruction, character assassination and hate and spite, move the politics to (a) more civil level especially where we are today...", he said. "... We need all (our) human resources to unite. This is not happening and this is the fundamental reason why the government is (in) some of the mess that it is in right now because all its concentration is in spite and hate and that is why it cannot build this country", he added.

Although Dr. Mitchell has denied the "rumour", Pastor Simon has remained tight-lipped on the allegations about the Happy Hill meeting. "No comment, no comment", was the response which came from Pastor Simon when he was asked to comment on reports about the alleged visit to Dr. Mitchell's home.

The religious leader told The New Today newspaper "people are free to say what they want".

Pastor Simon is known to have supported Congress in both the 2003 and 2008 general elections and might have been interested in landing a Senatorial appointment after the first national poll.

Speculation is rife that relations between the Preacher and some members of the NDC leadership might have become a bit lukewarm in recent months over a number of issues. The alleged Mitchell-Simon meeting comes on the heels of reports that the Pastor had been replaced as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the state-controlled Housing Authority of Grenada (HAG), a post he held since November 2008 after the NDC sweeping victory in general elections.

Well-placed sources told this newspaper that some board members have been complaining about Pastor Simon's handling of the affairs of the body. One official who asked not to be named said it appears that the religious leader "is doing his own thing and other board members don't know what is happening".

He said that although Pastor Simon had been replaced as Chairman of the Board he had been retained on the board as a member and given responsibility to lead the work on a proposed multi-million dollar Shopping Mall planned for the Sandino complex. According to the source, there seems to be some division among the board on the way forward for the project.

He said that some board members are opposed to the building of a supermarket as part of the project in light of the presence of other supermarkets in the south of the island. In addition, he said that one of the major players in the supermarket business on the island is planning to put down another supermarket almost adjacent to the Sandino complex.

There are also reports that some board members might be concerned about the financing of the project and the feasibility of its success. When The New Today newspaper contacted Pastor Simon last week on the issue of the Mall, he refused to confirm or deny allegations that he had landed the contract to build the facility.

He would only say that he will speak on the issue in his own time. Pastor Simon also denied reports that he had resigned as Chairman of HAG.

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