by Linda Straker
- Grenada Agricultural and Industrial Development Corporation renamed in July 1980 to Grenada Development Bank by People’s Law No. 33 of 1980
- New Board of GDB yet to be published in Government Gazette
- Andrea St Bernard and Earl Brathwaite appointed in August 2022 by then finance minister PM Dickon Mitchell
Though the names of the people appointed to serve on the Board of Directors for the Grenada Development Bank (GDB) are yet to be published in the Government Gazette, research has revealed that the 9-member board includes a current diplomat and a former Member of Parliament and Minister of Government who served in the 2008 to 2013 Tillman Thomas administration.
The Board, according to the regulations, shall be responsible for the policy and the general administration of the affairs of the Bank. It shall consist of 9 directors appointed by the Minister as follows— (a) one director to represent the Ministry of Finance; (b) the Attorney-General, or his or her nominee; (c) the Manager of the Bank; (d) 6 directors to represent banking, accounting, commerce, agriculture, engineering, and tourism.
The members of the Board as of 3 May 2023 are Andrea St Bernard who is the Special Envoy for development and investment in the office of the Prime Minister, and Earl Brathwaite. Both were appointed in August 2022 by Prime Minister and then finance minister Dickon Mitchell to serve as Chairman and Deputy Chairman, respectively.
The other 7 directors are Trevor St Bernard, Rolanda McQueen, Ramona Otway, Val Antoine, Patrick Simmons (former Member of Parliament for St Andrew South East), Danika Cherman, and Acting General Manager Donald Williams.
Section 8 of Schedule 1 of the regulations mandates that the Board members shall be gazetted whenever there are changes and or new appointments, but searches of gazettes published since the Dickon Mitchell administration was elected in June 2022 has not shown or revealed that this section of the regulations was fulfilled. The notice in the gazette is the final step to making the appointments lawful.
Notices of the appointment to boards are published in the gazettes and signed by the Permanent Secretary of the respective ministries. An email sent to Mike Sylvester, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, inquiring about the non-publishing of the names in the gazette, is yet to be acknowledged.
The Grenada Development Bank is the renamed Grenada Agricultural and Industrial Development Corporation which itself was the successor to the Grenada Agricultural Bank, originally established in 1965. The corporate name, Grenada Agricultural and Industrial Development Corporation, was changed to the Grenada Development Bank by People’s Law No. 33 of 1980, which became effective on 18 July 1980.
The primary purpose of the Grenada Development Bank is to assist in the economic development of Grenada by providing financial and technical assistance in the areas of Agriculture, Fisheries, Tourism, Industry, Housing, Small Business Development, and Human Resource Development. The Bank is empowered by Section 12 of the Act to borrow sums required for meeting any of its obligations or discharging any of its functions.
The functions of the Bank and duties of Board members include:
- assisting persons to establish, carry on, or expand development enterprises by participating in share capital, granting loans, and providing other forms of financial assistance to such persons;
- assist persons to pursue courses of higher, technical, and vocational education by providing loans and other forms of financial assistance;
- foster the development of monies and capital markets in Grenada;
- mobilise and co-ordinate available resources to be utilized in financing industrial and agricultural projects in Grenada; and
- grant loans to persons for the construction, extension, alteration, improvement or repair of dwelling-houses on land owned or leased by them.
According to the legislation the Board has a duty:
- to ensure that every application dealt with on behalf of the Bank is considered principally on its financial and economic merits and
- to take all such measures as may be necessary to ensure that financial assistance granted by the Bank to a development enterprise is utilised for the purpose for which it is given.
Providing guidance on investments, the regulations said that the Bank shall not make an investment in or otherwise transact business with an enterprise in which a director of the Bank is a partner, director or shareholder or is in any other way directly or indirectly interested, unless the transaction is unanimously approved by the other directors of the Bank.
Section 12 of the first schedule which is subtitled “Protection of Board,” states that an act done or proceeding taken under this Act by the Board shall not be questioned on the ground of any procedural omission, defect or irregularity not affecting the merits of the case.
