Trouble expected in Grenada

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33454, 8 February 1974, Page 9

Trouble expected in Grenada

I r.V.Z. Press Assn.—copyright) ST. GEORGE’S (Grenada), Feb. 7. The Commonwealth Caribbean was bracing itself for an outbreak of violence and possibly a refugee problem soon after the troubled island ! of Grenada becomes independent from Brit-' ain today, Agence France-Presse reported.' Grenadians in Trinidad,' some 40 miles away, have already set up a Grenada Re-; lief International Emergency; Fund (G.R.1.E.F.), with the! famous Calypso king, Mighty I Sparrow, who was born in | Grenada, on its committee. | Meanwhile, preparations! continued for independence. |

Grenada has been in the grip of a general strike and business shutdown for the last five weeks. There is no electricity or telephones, and fuel is virtually exhausted.

The Prime Minister (Mr Eric Gairy) has hinted that he will declare a state of emergency after independence in a bid to get the island back to normal. His opponents are calling for his resignation and the [disbanding of his notorious I secret police force, which has treated brutally memIbers of the Opposition and ■even looted Oppositionowned shops under the open ; protection of the regular 'police. ! The region’s leaders seem Ito be giving Mr Gairy the | cold shoulder at least, if they ■are not doing anything concrete, and all are sending only minor officials to repre-

sent their countries at the independence ceremonies. Jamaica has only sent its High Commissioner' in Trinidad, and neighbouring Barbados has merely sent the President of its Senate. The four already-indepen-dent Commonwealth Caribbean nations have remained tight-lipped over the twomonth old crisis and are reported to be much embarrassed by Mr Gairy and his antics. The exception to this silence has been the Barbados Prime Minister (Mr Errol i Barrow) who remarked a few [weeks ago that he made a [distinction between: “Independence for Gairy and independence for Grenada.” Independence celebrations, meanwhile, continued in Grenada yesterday, with band and calypso contests and parades of schoolchildren and units of the new 102-.

iman Defence Force, as well as an historical pageant which featured sketches illustrating Mr Gairy’s successes in his long struggle as the island’s principal labour leader. Many thousands of colourfully-dressed Grenadians attended the events in bright sunshine. The British delegation to the independence ceremonies, led by Mr Peter Walker, a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Parliamentary Undersecretary, instead of by Prince Richard of Gloucester, whose visit was called off because of the unrest on the island, arrived yesterday afternoon aboard the Royal Navy frigate Bacchante. The region’s press is attacking Commonwealth Caribbean leaders for their silence on the Grenada crisis. The respected “Trinidad Express” yesterday called for

action by these governments •’ to break the GovernmentOpposition deadlock in Grenada. Otherwise, the newlyformed Caribbean community would be meaningless, it said. “Are these Governments afraid to stand up and be counted when one of their I number is patently guilty of i following policies and indulg-' ing in activities that are (or should be) alien to the Carib- : ;bean way of life,” it asked/ , The newspaper accused j Britain of having opted out of the situation in a “cowardly” manner, and said that Grenada’s “last hope” was its Caribbean neighbours. Another leading paper, the “Jamaica Gleaner,” said that “No new' nation in current I history has approached independence with such deep divi- : sion among its people.” 1