New Jewel Movement 1973
for Power to the People and for Achieving Real Independence
for Grenada, Carriacou, and the Grenadian Grenadines
Source: thegrenadarevolutiononline.com;
Transcribed: for marxists.org by David Adams.
1. — Introduction
2. — The High Cost of Living
3. — Social Planning and Health
4. — Agriculture, Fisheries, Agro-Industries
5. — Carriacou: A Forgotten Island
6. — Building Our National Economy
7. — People and the Law
8. — People's Assemblies for Power to the People
9. — Regional and International Affairs
10. — Independence
11. — Towards the New Life and New Society
The people are being cheated and have been cheated for too long--cheated by both parties, for over twenty years. Nobody is asking what the people want. We suffer low wages and higher cost of living while the politicians get richer, live in bigger houses and drive around in even bigger cars. The government has done nothing to help people build decent houses; most people still have to walk miles to get water to drink after 22 years of politicians.
If we fall sick we catch hell to get quick and cheap medical treatment. Half of us can't find steady work. The place is getting from bad to worse every day-except for the politicians (just look at how they dress and how they move around). The police are being used in politics these days and people are getting more and more blows from them. Government workers who don't toe the Gairy line are getting fired left and right. Even the magistrates better look out!
The government has no idea how to improve agriculture, how to set up industries, how to improve housing, health, education and general well-being of the people. They have no ideas for helping the people. All they know is how to take the people's money for themselves, while the people scrape and scrunt for a living.
We believe that the main concern of us all is to (1) prevent the daily rise in prices of all our food and clothes and other essentials (it is unbelievable but that the price you can get for a pound of cocoa can't buy a half-pound of fish) and (2) develop a concrete program for raising the standard of housing, living, education, health, food and recreation for all the people.
The present situation we face is that we are forced to live in jammed-up, rundown, unpainted houses without toilet and bath, without running water, very poor roads, overcrowded schools where our children can't get a decent education, and without any proper bus service. There is almost no ambulance service in case of illness. We can't afford the cost of food to feed our children properly and this makes it easier for them to catch all kinds of illnesses. There are very few places near home for recreation. All we have is the rumshop to drown our troubles. It's almost impossible to buy clothes or shoes these days. The prices are ridiculous.
Twenty years of the GNP and the GULP have made us believe that there is no way out of this blasted mess. BUT THERE IS, and the time is NOW to do something about it.
What we want to do in this Manifesto is to give a rough idea of a way out. We can start by looking at some of the ways in which we can set about to wipe out poverty in Grenada.
Food
The present problem is that we import most of our food from abroad and have to pay very high prices for it. Very little land is being used for the production of local food. Most of the cultivated land is taken up with producing cocoa, nutmegs and bananas for the export market.
We need a National Food Strategy which would be linked with our Agricultural plan to provide all our local food consumption. Right now we import more than half the food we eat, and we call ourselves an agricultural country!
This plan must provide a regular supply of meats, vegetables, provisions, and milk products. Here, we must stress the increased production of tomatoes, eggplants, hot and sweet pepper, lettuce, parsley, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, snap beans, lima beans, black eye peas, pigeon peas, soya beans, cucumber, melons, musk melons, pumpkins, beetroot, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, yarns, okra and corn.
People who grow local good do so only for their own needs rather than producing it in large quantities for local consumption out of which they can make a good living. They feel bound to do so as there are only very poor facilities or arrangements for selling these goods. The problem is not that there is no market, otherwise half of our food would not be imported. The problem must be that there are no proper local marketing facilities.
Housing
It costs too much to build a house because we do not use local materials. We have to borrow money from foreign banks at high interest rates to buy cement made outside of Grenada and to buy foreign-made furniture. Then, we must face the high cost of buying or renting a spot and the high cost of sand and gravel and of carrying it to the site.
What is needed is the creation of a National low-cost Housing Plan which would use local materials like wood, high-quality clay for bricks, and river sand. These houses must be built cooperative, like in the old days when maroons were the order of the day, and with government-assisted finance.
There has never been a proper survey made of the natural resources/raw materials available for the construction of houses, schools, hospitals, churches (and so on), and this must be done now.
We are in favour of immediately giving title deeds to persons who have been in possession, whether as tenants or squatters, of lands owned by the Government.
Clothing
The problem here is that we import most of the clothing and the materials from abroad and then are made to buy them at high prices. On top of this, frequently this clothing is unsuitable for our climate.
What is required is the revival of the cotton industry in Carriacou to provide the basic raw materials for a local textile and garment industry to supply all of the clothing needs of the State.
We are not talking about simply exporting the cotton abroad as in the past where they made clothes out of it and sent it back to us at three times the price. Instead, we will keep all this money and then make the shirts, dresses, pants, etc., ourselves in our own garment factories out of that same cloth. We will use our own local designs and styles in our factories in place of the imported colonial jacket and tie. This will create a major outlet for many of our young and talented people, most of whom already have the required skills.
Our plan will at the same time provide more work for our people in Carriacou, Grenada and Petit Martinique.
The skins which we could get from the large scale production of rabbits, sheep, goats, pigs, and so on, could be used to make the belts and handbags which we now import in large quantities from abroad.
Education
A plan for the economic development of Grenada consists of four basic sectors, (1) Agriculture, (2) Fisheries, (3) Agro-industries and (4) New Tourism. None of these is being taught in any systematic way in any of our Primary or Secondary schools. If we are serious about having an educational system that serves the needs of the people for a better standard of life, then the curriculum (what is taught) of both Primary and Secondary schools must center around the teaching of these subjects in an organised, regular, imaginative and practical way. Our school leavers must be equipped with the basic skills required for the expanding agricultural and fisheries sectors; for the running of factories producing goods coming from these sectors; and for running the hotels, restaurants and other facilities of an expanding locally-owned and controlled tourist industry.
High-quality education at the Primary and Secondary levels should not be the privilege of the middle classes and the few others lucky enough to get scholarships. We propose a carefully-worked out plan of Free Secondary Education throughout the island. We believe that schools must train our young people in the society so that they can become an active part of the community. People who have skills acquired over the years in agriculture, fisheries, handicraft and general life experiences must be organised to pass on this knowledge to the pupils. In this way, our teachers and students with the help of the adults of the community can produce History books, Geography books, other forms of teaching materials which would be the basis for teaching throughout the school system. This plan would bring together in a concrete way parents, teachers and children working closely in co-operation. This practical, productive activity would raise our living standards in every area.
Freedom Schools - We propose the creation of what we call Freedom Schools. At these schools, our people will be given the opportunity or acquiring certain basic skills, such as competence in agricultural techniques, boat-building, craftsmanship, first aid and simple medicine, typing, shorthand. We intend focusing on areas outside of St. George's where the need is greatest and people have been neglected for too long.
These schools will also provide basic information on matters affecting us in our daily lives, for example, family-life education, explanations on the law in practice, elementary principles of taxation, reading and writing, black history, Geography, and Elementary Economics. These schools will be independent of the present school system and will be staffed by volunteers.
Health
The wealth of a nation depends on the health of its people. If we are serious about raising the living standards of our people, it is very important that we make sure that our people are healthy and have cheap and readily available facilities to keep that good health.
The present problems are the high cost of seeking medical attention, the high price of buying medicines and drugs, a very poor ambulance service, the scarcity of basic items, such as bandages, tablets, blood in the three hospitals in Grenada and Carriacou, and the various Visiting Stations.
High quality medical attention, we feel, must be a right and not a privilege. We all need to be healthy to be able to continue to work and to develop our country. Our children must be healthy to learn.
We propose the creation of an island-wise preventative medicine campaign. This would involve a massive program of immunisation, that is , the provisions of injections and other medicines to our people before they become ill. Every child will be inoculated against the following diseases - diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, measles and smallpox. There would also be a serious program of health education involving the teaching of hygiene, dietary techniques and first aid in our schools and oil the radio.
We will also set up a small research unit of our best local doctors to develop medicines from our abundant local herbs. These will be much cheaper than imported medicines since the foreign drug companies make huge profits for themselves.
We propose the creation of a National Sewerage Scheme to ensure that the beaches and seas around us do not become polluted thus creating health hazards.
We will make sure that drains are properly maintained and that modern new drains are built.
We will provide the necessary men and equipment to ensure that garbage is removed thoroughly and regularly.
The entire water supply will be constantly checked, filtered and purified before being supplied to the public. All meats, milk and other food commodities will be regularly inspected by properly trained public health inspectors.
We will begin a program designed to wipe out completely mosquitoes, bats and other pests in the State.
There will also be a large-scale training program for nurses for each village in the country. The main function of these nurses will be the application of first aid, diagnosing (saying what is wrong) illnesses for reference to a doctor (particularly complaints involving the organs of the body, such as the eyes or the ears) and handling the hundred of minor complaints which many doctors charge heavy fees for. The nurses will be trained to five expert attention and treatment to expectant mothers and to treating all forms of communicable diseases.
These nurses would also be responsible for teaching the health education subjects in the schools.
We do not consider it necessary to build new hospitals at this stage. Rather, what will be done would be to upgrade the present hospitals, ensure that they are sufficiently stocked with essential items and equipment and to provide them with local doctors with love and dedication for our people.
There is also a crying need for the formulation of a fixed scale of charges which doctors will be obliged under penalty of law to follow. There will also be price control on the cost of drugs and medicines.
In place of building a lot of new Visiting Stations, we would set up a number of mobile units which would travel to the respective areas in the country and to schools at intervals. The number of ambulances available will be increased.
School children, in particular, must have their eyes and ears regularly tested. It is very common for teachers to accuse children with bad eye-sight or poor hearing of being dunces without realising the severe handicaps the children labour under. Under this system of regular tests, these problems will be overcome.
In times of national crisis, for example, during the major outbreak of typhoid fever, doctors will come under the control of the State, so as to ensure that our people are not exploited.
Finally, we would create a National Insurance Health Scheme to provide free medical attention for our people.
None of these changes would require a massive outlay of expenditure but rather a more careful utilization of our present resources to provide a decent health plan.
Social Planning
In addition to our proposals under Health we advocate -
1. Free Psychiatric and Mental Health treatment for all persons in the State.
2. As a special priority, the building of houses for the old and needy.
3. The provision of adequate physical facilities for proper Geriatric treatment for the old. First priority will always be given to our older folk. They have laboured for long and as a people we must now be prepared and willing to care for them adequately and without cost.
4. Free dental treatment for all people, particularly pensioners and school children.
5. The creation of Community Centers in every village with a planned programme of activities.
6. A National Youth Development Committee to be controlled and run by the youth of the State. All existing youth organisations, and, in particular, the Grenada Assembly of Youth, will be invited to contribute ideas and personnel to the Committee. Apart from organising activities for its membership, this Committee will be invited to participate in other national bodies concerned with public affairs. The Committee will have as one of its main functions the implementation of a program designed to raise the level of National Consciousness throughout the State.
7. The present House of Refuge (or Poor House) will be renovated and its facilities updated to ensure the comfort of its residents.
8. All organisations in the State running Charitable Institutions will be given every encouragement to continue and expand their efforts.
9. We believe that the present policy of the administrators of the prison over-stresses punishment. We will ensure that all offenders who are convicted are treated as human beings while they are in prison and are given every opportunity to acquire a skill which could benefit them on their return to Society. Proper separate facilities and programs for the rehabilitation of young offenders, in particular, will be created.
Our basic policy for the organisation of economic activity is through cooperatives. We find the principle of co-operatives is the fairest way of ensuring full workers' participation and benefits from whatever enterprise is being done. We feel that workers will work harder and produce more if they know they are working for themselves and reaping the benefits of their labours, rather than if they are working for a boss.
For us to achieve a higher standard of living, we must enter upon a modern agricultural program, expand greatly our fishing industry and develop an island-wide network of factories for canning, processing, preserving and packaging all of the crops and fish we produce in this new program.
Our goal is not just to expand production of cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, rabbits, etc., while continuing to import the feeds for these animals, because to do so would still keep the cost of the animals too high owing to the high cost of these feeds. Rather, we aim to produce the various feeds ourselves. This we can do by making use of the fishmeal, coconut meal, corn, breadfruits, soya beans, sugar-cane, reject bananas, citrus and many other products which are now being used by the countries we buy the feeds from at high prices.
Our plan for increased production in cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, etc., will stress the introduction of breeds adaptable to the region and proper feeding and management. We advocate the creation of properly managed community pastures practising commercial grazing in tastier and more nutritious grazing areas.
We advocate the creation of a Central Dairy Board which would be responsible for collecting, processing and distributing locally produced fresh milk at fair prices.
From our present agricultural commodities, we can develop agro-industries producing for ourselves some of the following products:
Nutmegs
Nutmeg oil, jams, jellies, liquers, spice powder, pharmaceuticals, preserves, juices and marmalade
Cassava
Flour, baby food, cereals, farine
Bananas
Flour, chips, cake-mixes, baby foods, animal feeds
Cocoa
Confectionery (sweets); beverages (Chocolate, Ovaltine, Milo), ice cream
Breadfruit
Flour, chips, tinned foods
Corn Mixed with flour for baking, starch, oil
Cucumber
Gherkins
Cotton
Oil, animal feeds and plastics
Fish
Freezing, canning, packaging, powder for animal feeds, dehydrating surplus fish as the protein supplement in a livestock feed
Groundnut
Peanut butter, milk substitutes
Lamb
Tinned, dried, frozen
Coconuts
Cooking oil, soap, using the coconut meal by-product for animal feeds
Citrus:
Limes
Lime oil, lime juice, lime cordials. The pulp can be used as a stock-feed
Orange and grapefruits
Fresh fruit trade and the canning of surplus
Other fresh fruits
Fruit trade in mangoes, avocadoes (pears), soursop, passion fruit, guavas, W.I. cherries, sorrel, paw-paw, sapodillas and tamarinds for local consumption and export trade. The agro-industry here can be based on fruit-juices, nectars, liqueurs, wines, etc.
Minor spices
Our cloves, cinnamon, ginger, tonka beans, vanilla, black pepper, can be used to produce ground and mixed spices
Livestock feed
This can be produced from reject bananas, breadfruit, corn, fishmeal, slaughterhouse wastes, citrus and sugarcane
Ground provisions
The production of instant yam, tanyas, and sweet potatoes, etc., in packaged form. It must be stressed that all of these new products can and will be packaged, bottled, canned or wrapped by us right here in Grenada at our new factories.
We propose the setting up of a Soil Conservation Authority to deal with soil and water conservation in Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique. We will introduce small-scale machinery whenever possible, to remove the stigma of slavery and toil associated with the fork and hoe.
We propose to completely reorganise the existing facilities for servicing agriculture through a strong Research and Extension Division and a core of specialists in such areas as Crop Science, Plant Pathology, Entomology, Livestock Science, Agricultural Economics, Marketing, Land Use and Soil and Water Conservation. At present the technical service lacks depth and direction and a climate of frustration prevails. Juniors lacking in knowledge, qualification and ability have been promoted over seniors, open political activity is encouraged, while favours, promotion and courses are handed out on a patronage basis. To crown the matters, there is often conflict between the Permanent Secretary and the entire staff.
We will improve the existing agricultural feeder roads and build new ones for the opening of new areas for agricultural expansion.
Our new emphasis in what we teach in our schools will attract better types of Farm Manager/Operator with a higher standard of education and a better understanding of farming principles and practices offered by modern technology. We will demonstrate that commercial farming can provide a decent and respectable standard of living as any other occupation. We will make an early start in motivating our new farmers through summer schools, weekend agricultural camps, teach-ins and the formal teaching of agriculture in both Primary and Secondary Schools and at our Freedom Schools.
To develop such a program of agro-industries based on the agricultural commodities we can grow will require a large and steady supply of all these commodities coning from the farming sector to supply the agro-industry factories, Such a large and constant supply of these commodities, we believe, can only take place by radical redistributing the land in Grenada into co-operative farms of not less than 40-50 acres in size. This will replace the present scandal of "Land for the landless" policy, which has the effect only of destroying the whole agricultural basis of the economy.
Such a plan would also require a National Transport System and a National Marketing System which would take the fresh crops as well as the processed foods and animal feeds from the farms and factories to the homes of everyone throughout the island and to the docks for exporting overseas for us to earn some extra income.
We must use our agricultural experts as well as experts from the University of the West Indies along with our most successful local farmers, primary and secondary school teachers and pupils, as the hard core of the detailed planning and implementation of this scheme as well as for continuous research to get higher yields from the available land being utilised on these crops. We see our students throughout the island playing a more active and direct role in raising our levels of production thereby improving the material well-being of the people and gaining for themselves in the process an invaluable education in real life.
We aim to expand coastal as well as deep-sea fishing, using the right kind of boats and trawlers, with refrigeration on board for deep-sea fishing. Additionally, adequate deep-freezing facilities at the various fishing ports will be provided so that the fish can be preserved for long periods, and would not go bad if sales cannot be immediately obtained.
Our 1,500 fishermen with their 654 boats and our 110 dish vendors will be encouraged to work co-operatively. The fishing industry will develop into both a fresh fish market and a manufacturing industry. The co-operative will control its production, distribution and marketing thus benefitting the individuals while at the same time severely reducing our high food import bills and saving us badly needed foreign exchange. The surplus sprats, small jacks, flying fishes, etc., will be utilised as animal feed. We will examine closely the possibility of making our own saltfish from dyed fish.
We intend opening a fishing school drawing on local experts and experts from various countries of the world experienced in fish techniques, storage and processing and fish farming.
Fishing, like any other activity in the country, must be done professionally, and if the right facilities and training and marketing are available to the fisherman, he can make a very good living out of it. With Grand Etang Lake, other, smaller lakes and several of our rivers and inland bays, we can and should develop an inland fishing industry with the rearing of crayfish, titerree and other kinds of fish, and in the bays lobster farming on a big scale.
Directly connected with this expanded fishing program would be an expanded and varied boat-building industry. Again, we do not want to go buying expensive fishing boats from abroad when no one know how to build boats better than our very own people from Carriacou and Sauteurs.
Agricultural Development for Carriacou
Because of the long period of neglect with which Agriculture has been faced, the island should receive both direct and indirect benefits from the reconstruction programme. The indirect benefits should flow from the programme in Grenada. However, a specific programme for the island should include the following:
Livestock - General improvement in livestock husbandry through better pasture management, rotational grazing, better grasses, adjustment in the stocking rate based on the carrying capacity of the pastures. Provision of an Abbatoir with chilling facilities and the air-lifting of beef, pork, lamb and mutton to Grenada. Outlets will be provided through the supermarkets, hotels, local meat stalls, etc. There will therefore be little need for farmers to travel to Grenada with animals on the hoof for sale to face all the problems that this system entails. However, to meet this situation if it does arise, holding paddocks should be set up in Grenada where animals would be fed and housed until sold.
Limes - Improvement in the cultivation practices and restoration of the Dunfries factory to provide facilities for the production of lime juice and lime oil.
Cotton - Introduction of better agronomic practices in the cultivation of the crop and a possible change from the production of the Marie Galante cotton variety to the more lucrative Sea Island Cotton variety. The utilization of cotton seed for soil production and the "cake" as a stock feed. This cotton will be used as the basis of our local textile and garment industry.
Soil and Water Conservation Programme - This to be administered through the Conservation Authority and will include the establishment of large earthen dams in all possible catchment areas. The water resources so developed should be used to further expand the livestock and agricultural potential of the island through irrigation. Among other things, it would give a fillip to the production of our of season vegetables to supply Grenada and regional markets. Crops envisaged include: tomatoes, beans, okras, cabbages, carrots, onions, beet, garlic, watermelons, etc. Crops to be properly graded, packaged, then air-lifted to their destination.
Local Assemblies - We propose that the people of Carriacou and Petit Martinique will run these islands in their local Assemblies. Petit Martinique can have one local Assembly while Carriacou will have at least six. These Assemblies, together will elect four representatives to the National Assembly. In addition, the Assembly Council for Carriacou and Petit Martinique will be given greater agreed powers than the Assembly Councils in Grenada.
New Tourism
The present tourist industry is a major scandal. Most of the hotels and restaurants are owned by foreigners buying out the best lands in the island, throwing local hotel owners out of business and paying virtually no taxes at all to the Government. Nearly all the building materials used for construction of their hotels, cottages and private apartments are imported from other countries.
Even more scandalously, while our farmers and fishermen scrape and scrunt for a living, these foreign hotel owners import meats, fish, vegetables, spices or even fruits for use at their tables. And to make things even worse, these foreigners rake up all their fat profits and take it out of the country every year.
It is because of these and like facts that every time a tourist spends a dollar in Grenada, at least ninety cents of it goes right back outside the State. So the politicians let these people come in and buy out our best lands, make fat profits out of us, treat our people who work for them as dirt, bring in their nasty habits like drugs-and all for ten cents in every dollar!
What we propose in place of this bubul industry is a GRENADIAN Tourist Industry, owned by the people of the State. This means that a first priority must be the complete nationalisation of all foreign-owned hotels as well as foreign-owned housing settlements, such as Westerhall. In this new industry, all the meats, vegetables, provisions, fish, drinks, fruits, spices, handicrafts (chairs, tables, ornaments, etc) will be locally produced. This will create a large market for our farmers, fishermen and handicraft men and women. Our agro-industry factories would also be able to supply the hotels and restaurants with canned, bottled and packaged foodstuffs of all kinds.
In this way, the tourist industry will for the first time serve the needs of Grenadians. it would provide jobs at higher wages not just for those working in the hotels and restaurants or for a few taxi drivers, but also for the many workers on the farms, fishing ports and factories, producing all these things that before were imported from abroad.
This is what we mean when we say the tourist industry must be a Grenadian Industry; not only in the sense of it being owned and controlled by the people of Grenada but also because it will provide a large and new market for the goods made by thousands of Grenadians throughout the country.
We want to attract to Grenada as tourists not just a few rich, white people who can afford the ridiculous prices these hotels charge while the guest houses, apartments and smaller hotel rooms remain empty. Rather, we want the massive numbers of potential tourists from Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and other parts of Latin American, the millions of black Americans students and teachers in North and South America, and right here in the West Indies the thousands of Trinidadians, Jamaicans, Arubians, Martiniquans, Puerto Ricans, together with tourists corning from Africa and other parts of the world who would love to come here but cannot afford the present nonsensical prices.
The last major problem to be solve in a new tourist industry is the organisation of reliable and cheap air and sea transport. LIAT and CUA are totally unreliable. We need a Caribbean Airline owned by the governments of the region, including Grenada, so that we can fix the schedule of flights and control the cost of air fares to suit our needs. In this way, we can bring in tens of thousands of tourists at more reasonable fares each year.
Finally, we will be very strict in ensuring that all beaches are open and available for use by all members of the public. We will not leave it to tile people of individual areas to hold People's Trials of foreigners such as Lord Brownlow who attempted to create private beaches for their own use.
Trade
Our policy on trade is to cut down on imports as much as possible and we have shown many ways of doing so earlier in the Manifesto. Those goods which we will have to continue to import because we cannot produce ourselves and which we import only from North America and Europe, we will instead try to get at a cheaper price wherever possible from other countries in the Caribbean and in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The cost of shipping both our imports and exports are very high and use up a lot of our foreign exchange. Instead, we intend joining with other Caribbean and Third World countries in developing our own shipping line to carry goods more cheaply and to keep the profits local.
At present, we export only cocoa, nutmegs and bananas. In the future, under our plans for Agriculture and Agro-Industries we intend exporting a large range of agricultural and agro-industrial commodities, not only to the Big North American and European Markets but also to Latin America, Africa and Asia and other countries in the Caribbean.
Banking
We believe that no country can be independent unless it owns and controls the banks and the insurance companies. No matter how great our plan for agriculture, agro-industries, tourism and fishing are, if the foreign-owned banks decide that they are not lending the money to our farmers and fishermen etc., to develop these industries, then all the plans burst-up. And we know that this is just what the banks are doing. They are lending money left and right to buy cars and radiograms and other things which cannot produce food for us to eat, and which we have to buy at fat prices from the same countries the banks come from. But our farmers and small businessmen catch hell to get a loan from them. Yet, all the money they have in the banks is our local money. It is our deposits they use to lend people to buy cars instead of loans to produce more good and develop new industries.
On top of all of this, they take fat profits out of the country daily. We will put an end to this bubul.
Our plan is to nationalise the banks at the earliest correct opportunity and to use the money to finance directly the new agricultural and agro-industrial schemes, as well as our new plan in tourism and fisheries earlier outlined. We need to produce more goods in every sector and in every part of the island. it is for these reasons that we condemn foreign ownership of our banks. In fact, Grenadians already possess the necessary skills but use their for foreign capitalists.
The new banks would be controlled and directed by a Central Bank. One of the main functions of this Central Bank will be to make sure that the loans available in these banks are provided for housing, small farmers, fishermen, co-operatives, the setting up of agro-industries and the expansion of the new tourist industry.
These new banks will continue to employ as their staff the persons presently engaged in the industry.
Insurance
Most of what we have said about the banking system is also true about the Insurance Companies. Nearly all of them are foreign-owned; they are taking large amounts of money from Grenadians in premiums, and they are taking fat profits out of the island all the time. Our plans is to phase out the foreign-owned Insurance Companies and to set up one large government-owned Insurance Company to handle all forms of insurance and to keep the profits in the country.
Roads and Transportation
Transportation is a big problem to the people of this country. it is absolutely unreliable and uncomfortable. And for that, you pay one of the highest prices in the world.
The problems are: (1) poor roads, (2) no proper organised service to meet the needs of the people, (3) uneconomical vehicles and operations, (4) government's failure to determine and control the fares when it comes to the poor local passengers, and (5) the high cost of gasoline and vehicle parts.
We advocate: (1) the control of the fares by government or some other statutory authority, (2) a road extension programme to accommodate bigger, more economical vehicles, (3) the reoragnising of more reliable and economical runs, (4) the organisation of bus drivers into a co-operative association so that together they can work out proper schedules, and so bring an end to the fighting against each other, and the uneconomical runs for which passengers pay dearly.
We would consider setting up a Co-operative Bus Service, failing agreement among bus owners. Taxis can be organised along similar lines.
We will commence an immediate survey of existing roads and possibilities for opening new ones particularly in the first instance, new agricultural feeder roads.
Harbours and Airports
We are not in favour of building an International Airport at this time. The present airport is more than adequate for our needs at this time, but should be upgraded and resurfaced. What is desperately needed now is not an International Airport but ownership of LIAT or some other regional airline by the Governments of the region, including Grenada, so that we could regulate efficiently flight schedules and the cost of flights. It is also essential that the road from Grenville to St. George's should be widened and properly maintained.
We will give urgent consideration to rebuilding the jetty at Hillsborough, Carriacou and repairing and improving the jetties at Harvey Vale, Carriacou, and Grenville.
We will consider the desirability of putting down jetties at Gouyave and Sauteurs.
We will give active consideration to the building of deep water harbours at Hillsborough (Carriacou) and Grenville.
The whole question of communications requires careful and serious study, and final decisions on what should be done about new roads and harbours will only be taken after a thorough survey of our resources, needs and potential have been undertaken.
Local Private Investors
Estate owners have over the years shown themselves bankrupt of ideas for developing a modern and profitable agricultural sector. Today many of them leave large areas of their land lying idle and uncultivated while thousands of people have no land to work and we import most of our food. We feel that these estates should form the basis of the co-operative farms which we outlined earlier. To this end, we intend to negotiate with the owners in order to organise this scheme successfully.
The business firms which do all the importing at the moment charge in many cases excessive prices, and make excessive profits while not actually producing anything in the country. We feel that a National Importing Board should be set up to import all goods into tine island, from whom retailers can continue to buy those goods as at present. As this Board will not be a profit-making body, it means that the price of all goods imported into the island will be substantially reduced by the extent of the profits presently made. We also consider it essential to set up a National Exporting Board to coordinate the exporting of all items produced in the island.
We believe that the money, energies, experience and abilities of our local investors should be harnessed and channelled into the development, along the with Government, of Agro-Industries. This is an area with great potential for development which requires a greater amount of cooperation, hard work and ability.
Financing of Agriculture, Fisheries, Agro-industries, New Tourism, Housing, Roads, Schools, and Other Projects
As outlined earlier in the Manifesto, Health, Education and the supply of local foods, require relatively little additional capital expenditure. At the moment a hell of a lot of money is spent on these thing but with the amount of "bubul" and inefficiency, most of the money is mis-spent. Our National Health, Education and Food plans will utilize the present large sums of money spent on them, but reorganise them along the lines we have outlined earlier to make them more efficient and serve the needs of the people in all parts of the island equally.
Our plans for Housing and Clothing will need more capital expenditure. So will our plans for Agro-Industries and an expended fishing industry. Agriculture will require reorganisation of manpower, redistribution of the land, the growing of a larger variety of crops and the use of larger quantities of fertilizer and small machinery.
The sources of financing of all these projects will be from:
(1) Government revenue from taxation.
(2) Government revenues from collecting the profits from the Banks, Insurance Companies and formerly foreign-owned hotels.
(3) Loans from the government-owned banking system.
(4) Local private investors.
(5) Commercial loans from banks in other countries. These loans can be repaid from out of the profits made from using that money.
(6) Loans from International Financial Institutions like the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank and so on. It is worth noting that in a recent report by Sir Arthur Lewis, the President of the Caribbean Development Bank, he pointed out that some $[?] million were awaiting Grenada and a few other islands. The money is available but cannot be touched because of the corruption and lack of planning existing in these islands.
(7) Foreign Aid from friendly countries provided that there are no strings attached.
(8) Profits from the Agricultural, Agro-Industrial and Fishing sectors to be reinvested in these same sectors for them to expand even bigger.
(9) Organisations such as Credit Unions, Friendly Societies, Co-operative Associations for Nutmeg, Banana and Cocoa. Producers and people who operate methods of savings like the su-su will be encouraged to invest their savings.
(10) It should also be pointed out that by cutting down ridiculous costs involved in our present political administration, with bubul salaries going to the Premier, other Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, Governor, Speaker, top civil servants, 82 so-called farmers' club organizers, secret police, etc., the country will be able to make a great saving. Likewise, all the money now being wasted on prestige "dream" projects such as roundabouts, and Independence celebrations, will now be available for constructive policy spending.
Labour and Unemployment
At present, in Grenada 50% of the working population are without work. This means that every other person who wants a job cannot find one. This is a crime against the people. it is also a crime against the country for if jobs were created for everyone the country would produce double what it now produces. This would result in a tremendous boost in development for Grenada.
The New Jewel Movement feels that ALL men and women of working age should be able to find jobs in their country. Our plans for expanding and diversifying the agricultural sector, the fishing sector and the creation of factories to produce Agro-Industrial commodities, plus our proposals for a People's Tourist Industry would create enough jobs for the ten to twelve thousand people unable to find jobs. Our plans, in fact, would create a new problem-a shortage of labour.
As we have pointed out earlier, we intend setting up a Fishing School for people to master all the techniques involved in boatbuilding, new navigation, the catching of fish, storage and refrigeration, processing, packaging, distribution, fish-farming and marine motor-mechanics. We will also set up a School of New Tourism to cover all aspects of training, and a School of Agriculture and Agro-Industries to increase the level of skills of the labour force and to produce regular skilled recruits to these industries.
Wage Rates and Price Controls
We believe that every worker has a right to a decent wage so that every family is provided with the basic essentials.
We propose the setting up of a Wages and Prices Board to make sure that people's wages will rise whenever costs rise and to impose price controls on imported items. Legislation will be passed to guarantee minimum wages for different categories of workers.
Another way in which we hope to reduce the skyrocketing cost of living is through our plan of expanding our Agricultural Sector to produce cheaply all the food we eat at the moment, a half to three-quarters of which we presently import.
National Insurance and Pension Scheme
We have already outlined our National Health Insurance Scheme. In addition, we propose a National Insurance Plan to cover compensation for injury at work, unemployment, general accident, life insurance and retirement pension.
The money for these plans will come from contributions by all workers and employers from out of their earnings and profits.
The Police Force
To the public as a whole, the members of the Grenada police force are objects of hatred, fear and pappy-show, and the image of the force is that of a group of people whose only function is to protect the private property of the chosen few to assist the regime in keeping power and to keep the masses in their place despite the hunger, starvation and injustice which exist everywhere in our society. The shooting of ten (10) unarmed demonstrators at pearls airport in April of 1973 is a good example of this.
It is the system of recruitment to the force rather than the present members who are to be blamed for the image and practices which take place in the name of law and order.
1. The police receive improper or no training;
2. They work long and irregular hours;
3. They are away from their families and local communities for long periods of time;
4. They are abused by the public for acts of physical violence they are commanded to take against our citizens;
5. Persons with known criminal records are being recruited to the force.
If a new and just society is to be created in which there is equality before the law, the role of the police must be new and different.
Persons seeking to join the new service must possess the basic qualities of leadership, intelligence, good character, discipline and social sense. The teaching of West Indian history, community relations, economics and law will enable the new breed of policemen and woman to have a balanced outlook and no longer be the robots of today.
We stress the importance of having the commissioner of police come from the ranks of the service, making sure that he or she will be responsible to the country as a whole for official actions.
We recommend:
1. A strong police association to bargain for members;
2. That police officers reside and work in the areas in which they live;
3. That the transfer of members to areas away from their families be stopped;
4. That the police have regular hours of work and overtime pay for extra hours worked;
5. That there be greater involvement by the police in social work;
6. That known criminals be removed; and
7. That the words 'royal' and 'force' be removed and the name be changed to the Grenada police service.
The thousands of dollars which will be saved from the present sums being paid to Gary's secret police will be used instead to help to achieve the above objectives.
The Courts
In the past the settlement of disputes in our society has been solved in the courts by ministers of religion, heal-teachers and persons of outstanding character in the local community. Today, however, the courts, and in particular the magistrate's courts, are used in the settlement of everyday disputes.
The magistrate's court - there has been of late a public outcry at the delays and complete lack of regard for persons who appear there as witnesses or defendants. People as a whole no longer respect the institution because of the lack of efficiency and the image these courts enjoy in our society. We believe the reasons for this are as follows:
1. The fact that the magistrates do not reside in the districts in which they sit and so fail to have any real understanding of the locality and the people;
2. The police are able to bramble the magistrate into adjourning cases then there is no good reason for so doing;
3. The magistrate has to deal with cases of minor anti-social behaviour, e.g. drunkenness, cursing and offences by youth and children, which often are not crimes at all. Court decisions are very often not complied with;
4. Imposing fines which bear no relation to the nature of the offence; and
5. The magistrates are subject to political pressure and displeasure in matters in which the government may have an interest.
We propose therefore:
1. That magistrates reside in the district in which they sit:-
2. That people's courts be set up in villages to try petty offences;
3. That magistrates sit on the bench with two or more lay people so that they could be assisted in forming a balanced judgment. This can be experimented with for a period before final implementation.
4. That the magistrates be given full power to supervise fully the administration of their department;
5. That the wide powers of heavy fining now allowed to magistrate's be reduced.
The People's Court - The court would be comprised of elected villagers who will deal with anti-social behaviour of the villagers themselves, e.g. petty theft, absence of children from their school, drunks and young offenders. The sentence of these courts would be the imposition of small fines or compulsory community work.
We feel that being tried by our neighbors and friends would help to reduce anti-social behaviour and assist in promoting a sense of responsibility and community.
The Court of Appeal and the High Court - We are satisfied with the present method of appointments to the high court and court of appeal and would be in favour of retaining this system.
The Privy Council - Self-Reliance must be our goal in all the institutions in our state. However, no state like ours could on its own run all its institutions. With our Caribbean neighbors we must establish a Caribbean court of appeal in the very near future and abolish appeals to the Privy Council in England.
The Legal Department - We do not see the need for the top heavy, big pay, fancy-named legal officials who staff the government's legal department. We see the need for an attorney general and one assistant. They will be responsible for all civil matters in which the state has an interest, and provide legal advice to the government and draft new laws. The director of public prosecutions, together with an assistant, will be responsible for all criminal matters in which the state has an interest. He will also be responsible for giving lecture of the law to the police service. We would abolish the post of Solicitor-General.
Legal Reforms -
1. The court dress of the judges and lawyers will be changed to suit our tropical conditions.
2. A law revision committee will be set up to promote changes in the law to meet the needs of the society. Representatives will come from all groups within the society under the attorney-general as chairman.
3. That persons who are presently regarded as "illegitimate" will be afforded all the rights of persons who are born in wedlock.
4. Legal aid will be extended to cover cases other than murder.
5. We will give the law society an opportunity to agree on a fixed scale of charges to clients. If they cannot agree, we will lay down maximum charges for lawyers.
6. Reduction of the legal age of majority from 21 to 18 years.
7. Raising the marriage age to 16 years.
8. Simplifying and revising the law relating to land and conveyancing.
9. Various disabilities and disadvantages which women presently suffer under the law will be removed. The "common-law" wife will be guaranteed certain rights and wives will be guaranteed the right to remain in and/or share the value of the matrimonial home and other assets with the husband on a divorce or other dissolution of the marriage.
The Constitution
The Constitution is a body of Rules which are supposed to reflect the legal principles under which a people agree to be governed within a State. Usually these laws seek to provide for the equality of all citizens before the law and to ensure that even the Government is subject to the law of the land. This legal principle is expressed as the rule of the law.
There are countries in the world which do not have written Constitutions, e.g. Britain, where the rule of law may yet be maintained. The fact of having a written Constitution does not of itself guarantee that the laws will be respected or enforced. What is important is the value which the people and the Government solace on the importance of upholding the law.
We are in favour of Grenada having a written Constitution. What is important, however, is that our Constitution must reflect our genuine aspirations and ideas about justice. A Constitution is meaningless to a people unless it is obtained by the process of the people's involvement. The present Constitution is a total farce, and its provisions are broken, ignored or rejected by this Government as a matter of course.
A meaningful Constitution must at least contain:
(1) A statement of the basic principles for which the society stands;
(2) Machinery for the protection and enforcement of fundamental rights and freedoms. Both of these essentials are missing in our present Constitution.
We reject as a total pappyshow the present 1967 and the proposed 1974 Constitutions which were imposed on us by the British Government. it is a shameful reflection that it took three trips to London to discuss the 1974 Constitution and all that resulted is three minor changes from the Associated States Constitution of 1967. In effect Englishmen drafted the laws which are to govern us. We had no say. We will use the Independence Constitution as the basis for discussion in the preparation of a meaningful Constitution for a new and democratic society.
The Civil Service
We have been stressing that the three main arms of the apparatus of the State - the Courts, the Police and the Civil Service - are all badly in need of repair.
With the Civil Service, the problems have been victimisation by the Government, inefficiency in certain departments due to lack of overall co-ordination, breakdown in communication between Permanent Secretaries and their staff and between Permanent Secretaries and their Ministers, a climate of frustration due to the Government's open policy of biased promotions of their political supporters regardless of their qualifications, experience, energy or ability, nonproductivity on the part of many civil servants who see themselves as only awaiting a pension, and a general lack of direction and aimlessness on the part of those civil servants forced to abandon planning for the "dreams" of Lucifer.
The urgent need is to inject the Service with a new approach of dedication, direction, efficiency and commitment to the aims, values and aspirations of a people searching for a new life in a new society.
The Civil Service Association must be given the assurance that it will allowed to conduct its activities and look after the interests of its members in an atmosphere free of political pressure and victimisation.
We will consider the desirability of increasing the membership of the Public Service Commission and of allowing two it its members to be appointed by workers in the Public Service, including civil servants, teachers, policemen and nurses.
A survey will be undertaken to determine the best ways of achieving meaningful change in the smooth running, coordination, work-sharing, attracting of appropriate personnel and the restoration of a sense of values and direction to the Service.
As a first priority, we will immediately discontinue the practice of using civil servants as politicians. The funds now being wasted on the eighty-two Farmers' Club organisations, with a minimum salary of $210.00 per month each) will be discontinued.
New Villages
We plan to provide a home for every family (and every family deserves a home), a home with the basic amenities and at the lowest possible cost. We believe that such homes should be erected in areas where materials are obtainable or easily transportable, and where facilities are easily serviceable.
We see the need for the creation of entirely new communities organized along different lines to the present villages. These new villages would be self-contained communities with a housing estate, shopping area, recreational facilities, including community centre, properly planned and maintained roads, health clinic, church, school and a properly organized bus service.
Each house will be properly equipped with its own toilet and bath facilities and electricity. There will be at least a number of public telephones for the use of tile village. The people of the village will .run the village through their local Village Assembly.
The aim of these new villages would be to "townify" the country and "countrify" the town; that is, we would aim at providing the best features of town life to folk living in the country and vice versa.
People's Assemblies and the Two Stages of the New Form of Government
Since politics deals with the making of decisions, and since politics is largely the process which decides who gets what, where, how and when, New Jewel does not consider it to be the function of an "exclusive club." NJM stands solidly behind People's Assemblies as the new form of government that will involve all the people all the time. Through this form, people will be assured of both their political and their economic rights. To us, People's Assemblies will bring in true democracy.
Nevertheless, NJM does not expect that People's Assemblies will be able to take over right away. It will take time to get these Assemblies really going. We therefore hold that when power changes hands in the near future, there will have to be a provisional government, an in-between government. That government will be dedicated to the task of developing People's Assemblies, among other things. It will have the task of starting, promoting, encouraging and generally bringing into being these Assemblies.
Who will make up this new Government? That will have to emerge more precisely as the circumstances develop. As a guide, that government will be made up of a cross-section of the society. It will be made up of all major groups, without regard to favour GULP, GNP, JEWEL, alike. Ability, dedication and patriotism will be the standards. it will be made up of representatives of workers and unions, farmers, police, civil servants, nurses, teachers, businessmen and students. These groups will be consulted in advance and they will choose their own representatives on the government. That assembly made up of representatives of all groups in the island will be the government.
The government will operate on the basis of collective leadership. All important decisions will be made by the whole group. There will be no Premier. The Assembly will elect a different chairman at intervals. Details as to who will be in charge of which Ministry will be worked out by the Assembly.
Later on, however, after consultation with the people at large, and with their consent, People's Assemblies will be implemented.
How will these Assemblies work? NJM has covered this subject at great length in previous publications. We shall only summarise it here.
But before we do this, let us state that we are rejecting the party system for many reasons. Firstly, parties divide the people into warring camps. Secondly, the system places power into the hands of a small ruling clique. That clique victimises and terrorises members of the other party. Thirdly, the ruling elite seizes control of all avenues of public information, for example, the radio station, and uses them for its own ends. Finally, and most importantly, it fails to involve the people except for a few seconds once in every five years when they make an "X" on a ballot paper. Therefore, we wish to replace the party system by People's Assemblies as outlined below.
Firstly, there will be the Village Assemblies. Each adult citizen, from eighteen years of age, will be a member of his Village Assembly. The Village Assembly will discuss the problems of the village and take decisions of them. It will meet, say, once a month. The Village Assembly will elect a small Council to implement its decisions. That Council or any member of it can be dismissed and replaced at any time that the Assembly decides.
Secondly, we propose the creation of Parish Assemblies. These will be made up of representatives from throughout the parish. Each Village Assembly will send two delegates to the Parish Assembly. The Parish Assembly will elect a Parish Council. These Assemblies will discuss the problems of the parishes and reach decisions on them. it will be the duty of the Parish Councils to implement these decisions.
Thirdly, we advocate the creation of Workers Assemblies, which will be organised along similar lines to the Village Assemblies. These Assemblies would be entitled to representation in the National Assembly. These Assemblies would comprise, for example, stevedores, nurses, teachers, students and so on. Workers Assemblies will ensure that the present exploitation of workers being carried on by certain leaders in the name of Trade Unionism will come to an end. This will be so because for the first time the control and direction of their own lives will be in the hands of the workers themselves rather than in the hands of corrupt politicians whose only interests are in lining their pockets and riding on the backs of the labouring masses to keep political power.
Finally there is the National Assembly. This will be the Government of the land. It will be made up of representatives chosen from each village and the Workers Assembly, one each. The national Assembly will elect its Council to put the decisions into practice. Members of the Council will be on Committees which will head government departments.
The precise demarcation and division of powers and functions, age participation, and normal frequency of elections will have to be agreed upon, after further discussions by the people. Power, however, will be rooted in the villages and at our places of work. At any tine, the village can fire and replace its Council, its representative on the Parish Assembly, or its representative on the National Assembly. Together, the people of the villages and workers can throw out the whole National Assembly and put in a new one. In this way, power will be in the hands of the people of the villages.
People's Assemblies, therefore, will end the deep divisions and victimisation of the people found under the party system. This new form will involve all the people in decision-making, all the time.
Regional Affairs
We support completely the political and economic integration of the Caribbean. But, like with Independence, we believe in real and genuine integration of all the peoples of the Caribbean - for the benefit of all the people.
We support the integration of the economies of the islands under ownership and control of the people of these islands. We oppose the present trend of integrating those economies to make it easier for foreign companies to exploit us.
We have witnessed over the past 20 years Federation, Little 8, Little 7, Unitary Statehood with Trinidad, and the Grenada Declaration among others. The reason they have all failed is that at no stage were the people consulted or involved in nay of those attempts at Caribbean Unity.
The present Caribbean Common Market (CARICOM) is no different. Here, too, the people have been completely shut out from any participation in its planning, beginning or present operation.
We will work towards ensuring that CARICOM becomes a meaningful reality.
Our policy on imports of goods that we do not produce ourselves will be to try first of all to buy these goods from our Brothers in the other islands of the Caribbean. Any goods which they do not make we will import from fellow Third World countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Only as a last resort for goods that we cannot get anywhere else will we buy from the imperialist countries like North America and Europe who are rich enough already from exploiting us for too long.
Through our proposal for joint ownership of the airline and shipping lines serving the region by the governments of the region, we expect a large reduction in the cost of travel between the islands. This will mean that the workers of the different islands will have the opportunity to travel, presently the privilege of the middle and upper classes.
We believe that these tiny islands of ours should abolish the need in regional travel for passports, travel permits, airport and ticket taxes and other ridiculous restrictions and politically motivated bans on individuals.
International Affairs
We stand firmly committed to a nationalist, anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist position.
We fully support the Organisation of Non-Aligned Nations in their courageous attempts to prevent big-power domination of their economies and internal politics, and propose to join that Organisation at the earliest opportunity.
For as long as the present composition of the OAS is maintained, we will not apply for admission to that body.
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the intervention of the U.S.A. in the internal affairs of the South East Asian countries and the genocidal practices being committed on their peoples. We support in particular the heroic struggle of the people of Vietnam and Cambodia. We reject the right of the U.S.A. or any other big power to control the economies and lives of any people anywhere.
We support fully the liberation struggles being waged by our African Brothers in South Africa, S.W. Africa, Rhodesia, Mozambique, Angola and Guinea-Bissau for self-determination.
As a priority, we would ban all imports from South Africa, S.W. Africa and Portugal or its colonies and would cut off all trading and other ties with these countries. None of the nationals of these countries will be allowed access or entry to our island.
We will not allow the nationals of countries with racist laws designed to keep out Black people, such as the United Kingdom or the U.S.A. to have free, open and unrestricted entry into our island.
We deplore the rampant racism that our fellow West Indians and other Black Brothers suffer in America, Britain and Canada, and will give them whatever concrete support we can.
We salute the just and heroic struggle being waged on Caribbean soil by progressive forces here. We are confident of our eventual victory.
On February 7th, 1974, we are supposed to become independent. If we do, this will be independence in name only. Gairy believes that independence means pulling down one flag and putting up another, composing a new anthem, creating a new motto, calling the Governor "Governor General" and the Premier, "Prime Minister;" playing steelband, jumping up and feteing; cleaning up and beautifying the streets.
But after all the celebrations and bacchanal are over and we wake up next day (or next week) with a hangover, the price of food, clothes and everything else will still keep going up, wages will still be the same (or less), the condition of the schools, hospitals and roads (except for maybe two more roundabouts) will continue to get worse, and the people's housing will still be the same or worse.
NJM has always stood for real independence, genuine independence, meaningful independence. At our People's Convention on Independence of 6th May, 1983, at Seamoon where 10,000 of our supporters were present, our two major speeches were called "Meaningful vs. Meaningless Independence" and "New Directions for Genuine Independence." This Manifesto of ours sketches the things we must do as a people under new leadership to achieve real independence. For we believe independence must mean better housing for our people, better clothing, better food, better health, better education, better roads and bus service, more jobs, higher wages, more recreation-in short, a higher standard of living for workers and their children.
None of these things can be achieved by celebrations, fetes for the big boys, incompetent and corrupt leadership or the dreaming of a tin-God politician as a substitute for hard work and planning.
Qualities of Leadership Under Independence - We of the NJM believe that the only way out of the present mess is for a new progressive, dynamic, imaginative, honest and hard-working leadership to take power. This leadership must work closely with the people of every village, helping them to organise and improve their skills and carry out their ideas for a better life. Our goal is to eventually replace the present political system with a truly democratic and grass-roots system in which the people of every village and parish and of the island as a whole, will be able to exercise power on their own behalf, in their own interests in order to build a bright future for themselves.
The NJM, as an organisation, only started in March of this year. Yet at Seamoon, on 6th May, 1973 we brought together 10,000 people in one place, effectively contributed to shutting down the island for one week later the same month and closed down the airport for 3 days in April thus letting the outside world know of the scandals of Gairy's Police State and misgovernment. Indeed, we have been at the forefront of organising all the people's effective protests and opposition to this corrupt, inhuman and unjust regime. On top of this, we have been producing a political newspaper selling three times more copies than any other paper (all of them running for years and years in the island.) All of this speaks for itself.
We feel that leaders are not necessarily born, or come from the East, but are made. We feel that no small group of persons, regardless of how intelligent or educated or wealthy they are, have the right to sit down together in a small room and proclaim themselves the new Messiahs. Rather, the leadership must come from the people and must be accepted by the people not because of the way they look, dress or speak, but because of their proven commitments, dedication and hard work in the interests of the people.
Leaders must not be required to know everything better than the people, or to be more intelligent than the people. Leadership must not mean the creation of Masters. Leadership instead should regard itself as the servants of the people, and must aim at destroying the relationship of master and slave, employer and employee and of destroying the whole class relationship in our society.
Our aim, in the words of President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, is to "make every person a master-not a matter who opposed others, but one who serves himself. A person who serves himself is a master. He has no worries, he has confidence in himself and is confident of his own actions."
Every future representative of the people will be required to live by a code of ethics, agreed by the people after consultation. All present parliamentarians will be required to account to an elected People's Tribunal for their ill-gotten gains.
Independence Celebrations vs. Independence Projects - The millions of dollars that the Government intends to waste on a week of independence celebrations could instead have been spent to build a thousand houses under a special Independence Housing Project for people who now live in shanty towns.
The 23 committees and 7 co-ordinating committees of businessmen, civil servants, hoteliers and others that Gairy has appointed to organise fetes and bacchanal could instead have used their talents and abilities to raise money for this project. In addition, money could have been raised by the hundreds of thousands of Grenadians and other West Indians living abroad in countries like Canada, America and England for this project.
Also, in our negotiations with the British on the question of independence, we could have demanded from them an independence payment of at least one hundred million dollars as partial reparation to make up for some of the money stolen from us and the exploitation, human misery, suffering and degradation we have endured at their hands over the last 400 years. This money we could have used to build the factories for our Agro-Industry Scheme. Instead, all we are going to get from the British is a visit by some member of the "Royal" Family to pull down the old flag, put up a new one and make a speech congratulating us on our "achievement."
Apart from the obvious fact that we would gain more from a thousand new houses and twenty agro-industry factories instead of a thousand gallons of ruin, this Independence Housing and Factory Project would have served as a permanent symbol and example o the first step towards achieving our real independence. In this way, the whole process of independence would have been correctly seen as something which does not begin and end on one day but rather as a dynamic process of developing self-reliance and attaining self-sufficiency in all areas of our lives -economic, cultural, political and spiritual.
The project would not only have helped us but would also have served as a permanent reminder to generations to come of the real meaning and value of independence.
History has shown us that it is only those countries where the people struggled and fought for the achievement of their independence, that independence has become a reality. In those countries where the people have been shut out of the process of obtaining independence, like in Trinidad, the people find themselves engaged in a violent struggle against the government who has cheated them of the fruits, expectations and promises of independence. Trinidad today after 11 years of independence, has finally gone around the country in an attempt to consult with the people in drafting an Independence Constitution for Trinidad. If Gairy has his way, we will find ourselves having to do exactly the same thing at a future date; but, praise God, the people and the NJM will not let him have the chance to play the fool with us.
We repeat that the present move towards independence is an insincere, opportunist move, designed to strengthen the grip of tyranny and corruption. It is bound to result in a sham, bogus, meaningless independence.
History will yet record that 7th February, 1974 marked the beginning of a new stage in the struggle of our people. It will set in motion a new process involving the people which will take us along the lost road to an eventual real independence.
NJM and the Taking of Power
No Government can continue to function in the face of the organised opposition and mobilisation of the people. When a Government ceases to serve the people and instead steals from and exploits the people at every turn, the people are entitled to dissolve it and replace it by another by any means necessary.
Very few people in Grenada today believe that it would be possible for power to be transferred from the corrupt Gairy Regime by means of an election. Indeed many people feel certain that for as long as this Regime holds power Elections will never be held in the island again. It is clear to us of the NJM that even if an Election was held tomorrow morning, it would be carefully rigged to prevent the people's choice from coming to power. The evidence of the 1972 Elections and the premise of even greater irregularities and corruption after Independence justifies this view and is clear for all to see.
Very few people in Grenada today need convincing that the island is in a total absolute mess. To all of us, the most fundamental, urgent, and crucial question is the taking of political power by the organised people so as to clear up this mess and to set the island back on course.
The NJM proposes to hold in the near future a National Congress of the People to work out the best strategy for taking power.
Towards the New Life and New Society
We have attempted to show in this Manifesto what is possible. We have demonstrated beyond doubt that there is no reason why we should continue to live in such poverty, misery, suffering, dependence and exploitation.
We must stress that this document is not meant to be a final blueprint for magical change. Some of these views will need to be modified or changed after further consultation with the people and with our National Co-ordinating Council of Delegates. These views, however, do represent the present thinking of the Bureau of the NJM, and we are happy to stand by them. But, until the people take power and implement a planned approach to the economy of the island, after undertaking surveys of our potential resources, the precise timing and implementation of these proposals and the final shape they take can not be exactly known.
To create the new life for the new man in the society, it is necessary that we reject the present economic and political system which we live under. More than this, we need to construct an entirely new system of values where the lust for money, power, and individual selfish gain are no longer the motivating factors. The creation of this new man demands the transformation of the minds and hearts of each and every one of us.
In the new society, our people will be encouraged to give full expression to their sporting, artistic and dramatic expressions. We will encourage local drama, art, native dancing, sports, calypso and steelband, and active assistance will be given to groups already engaged in these pursuits.
The new society must not only speak of Democracy, but must practise it in all its aspects. We must stress the policy of "Self-Reliance" and "Self-Sufficiency" undertaken co-operatively, and reject the easy approaches offered by aid and foreign assistance. We will have to recognise that our most important resource is our people.
Under the new society, students and youth can no longer be regarded as a class separate and apart from the rest of the community. Our aim will be to create an environment where it will be possible for students to be regarded also as workers and workers as students. The new system of values will demand that youth and students make a material contribution to society even while they study. Their preparation will be for entry into a real world where they must join other workers in creating and producing.
We must recognise that Agriculture is, and must be, the real basis of our development. Our people will have to be provided with material and spiritual incentives in their own interest and for their own development.
In the new society, all our people will be encouraged to find answers to the questions:-Who are we? What is the nature of our condition? Why are we in that condition? What can we do to change that condition? What can we change it to? We will together search to find answers to the questions: What do we want? Why do we want that? How can we get what we want? What must we do to make sure we keep what we achieve? We will develop attitudes which will always encourage us to ask questions and move us to find meaningful and lasting solutions. Our real enemies will always be exposed while we will always strive to work closely with our Brothers and Sisters in the Third World. The aim will be to encourage our people always to demonstrate true solidarity with our Brothers; always to strive to find our real identity; always to work harder and harder at developing a true national consciousness, and a real and meaningful integration of the entire Caribbean area. Our Grenadian Brothers and Sisters overseas, in particular, will be encouraged to join hands with us here to build a better land for our children and our children's children.
We know that none of this is possible under the present setup. our first task therefore is the destruction of Gairyism and the system it represents. To this end, we of the New Jewel Movement dedicate ourselves.
ONWARD TO VICTORY! ONWARD TO THE NEW SOCIETY! PEOPLE OF GRENADA,
YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR CONTINUED EXPLOITATION;
YOU HAVE YOUR DESTINY TO FULFILL!
EVER ONWARD TO VICTORY!