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Joe Gilbert In Trouble
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- Parent Category: Jan 2012
- Category: Week end Jan 21st, 2012
- Published on Sunday, 22 January 2012 16:34
- Hits: 878
There is a level of uncertainty over the future of the three-year old Government of Prime Minister Tillman Thomas. There are reports that Minister of The Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development, Joseph Gilbert could be fired by Prime Minister Thomas over a letter he wrote giving commitment to a foreign company on a casino licence to operate at the New St. George's Port.
The Prime Minister, on Wednesday, called a special emergency Cabinet Meeting at which he confronted Gilbert about a letter he had written to a group known as Harbour Holdings Limited last year in which he promised that the island's Gaming Act will be amended to facilitate their plan to buy a lot of land (Lot 8) on the St. George's New Port where the casino is intended to be built.
It is believed that Prime Minister Thomas is looking at advising Governor General Sir Carlyle Glean to revoke Gilbert's appointment as a member of his cabinet. A well-placed source told THE NEW TODAY newspaper during the meeting Gilbert acknowledged writing the letter in order to appease a top official of Zublin G'da Ltd which is pushing for the license but that it was never sent out to the intended party.
The Prime Minister informed the special meeting that it was his intention "to get rid of him (Gilbert)" over the unauthorized letter but yielded to other Cabinet colleagues who made a plea for Gilbert not to be dealt with. According to the source, the Prime Minister indicated that he planned to go ahead and verify whether letter was sent out to the intended party before taking a final decision on Gilbert's tenure as a member of the Cabinet.
This newspaper was told that the Grenadian leader has "the proof" that Gilbert was not "truthful" with Cabinet and is contemplating taking some form of action against Gilbert on the casino licence issue. This newspaper learnt that a group of senior ministers met immediately after the special Cabinet session at a hotel complex in the south of the island belonging to the family of one senior government minister to discuss the way forward.
Another well-placed government source told THE NEW TODAY that Prime Minister Thomas was already in the process of asking Governor-General, Sir Carlyle Glean to revoke the appointment of Gilbert, the sitting Member of Parliament for the St. Patrick West constituency.
He said the Prime Minister is annoyed with Gilbert for writing the letter since the Cabinet of Ministers never discussed or agreed to grant any licence for investors to set up a casino business on the island. Speculation is rife that Harbour Holdings entered into an agreement with Zublin G'da Ltd, the promoters of the New Port, to furnish them with a gaming licence for the investors to set up a casino on the island as part of a plan to purchase Lot 8 on the port.
A usually reliable source told this newspaper that Prime Minister Thomas, armed with the letter, instructed Cabinet Secretary, Gemma Bain-Thomas to summon the Cabinet to an Emergency meeting on Wednesday to inform them about the Gilbert issue. It was the second time for the week that the Cabinet had met to discuss the business of the country following Monday's regular weekly session
The source said that Prime Minister Thomas did not give Cabinet Ministers any prior notice of the agenda item to be discussed at the emergency meeting. "He (PM Thomas) kept everything close to his chest", said a government insider who added that the Grenadian leader has documentary evidence that Gilbert offered to supply a casino license to persons associated with the Zublin Group that approached government some two years ago with a proposal to set up the casino as part of an extension of the St. George's Port project.
Harbour Holdings has allegedly paid Zublin an estimated US$500, 0000.00 in connection with the proposed casino operation. This newspaper understands that the investors had filed a lawsuit in the local high court again Zublin for breach of contract.
There are reports that the lawsuit was discontinued in light of assurances received that government was working on the casino licence. Gilbert and some other members of the three-and-a-half year old government are believed to be in favour of casino gambling in the country.
THE NEW TODAY understands that the Prime Minister had made an unusual visit to the Governor-General a few days ago and did not inform several of his key aides. Speculation is now rife that the impromptu visit might be linked to the action that he was contemplating against Minister Gilbert.
The source spoke of Prime Minister Thomas taking the position that Gilbert acted improperly since no decision was taken by government to provide casino gambling licenses to any entity whether foreign or local. In addition, he said the embattled minister would have acted improperly since the granting of any such license did not fall under his portfolio.
"I can tell you that no application for any gaming licence was brought to Cabinet, We never discussed that. That was never part of the agenda", he remarked. "The government did not authorise anybody to promise anyone a license to setup up and operate a casino here. Anyone who did such a thing was on his own frolic and was acting all alone and without the approval and consent of the Cabinet", he said.
Prime Minister Thomas has publicly stated his opposition to the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) government issuing a casino gambling license for the island. He has said that the issue was not part of the campaign platform of Congress for the 2008 general elections, which the party won to take over the seat of government from the New National Party (NNP) government of former Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell.
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