NDC calls for a national day of prayer

The NDC joins with the rest of the nation in saluting all our essential services workers.

The call made by the authorities to join in the honking of horns and beating of pots, pans and other implements last evening, between 7 and 7:10 pm, was embraced by many, and rightly so. For while it showed appreciation for the efforts of our essential services workers as we face this Covid-19 pandemic, it also afforded our people an opportunity to release some of the pent up stress and anxieties experienced over the past few weeks. However, we believe that more than that is required.

As a God-fearing society, we believe that we need the continued protection of Almighty God for our essential services workers to persevere as the weight of keeping the nation safe bears down on them. We also need to give God thanks and praise for so far, sparing an outbreak we can ill afford and most important, for sparing lives.

We especially appreciate the work of our essential services workers and those Grenadians on the front line in the diaspora who have had a particularly hard time working to save lives. We salute them and remember the families and friends of the many Grenadians lost to Covid-19.

NDC now calls on all of the religious groupings in Grenada, the Conference of Churches, Evangelical Alliance, Conference of Seventh Day Adventists and other Christian groupings, as well as Muslims and Rastafarians to collaborate in a joint effort to have the nation praying and praising at the same time. This is how Grenadians know how to face and overcome adversities. So while we copy the way the rest of the world is doing it, let us not forget our own traditional ways. We all believe prayers can move mountains!

And while the nation offers prayers and praise, we call on government to show appreciation to our workers in more tangible ways:

1. Show more respect for our teachers by not bullying them into working on a platform for which they do not have the necessary tools and training.
2. Immediately, resolve the outstanding issue of pension and gratuity by announcing that you will put an end to all court cases and abide by the Constitution and the Pensions Act and pay up all pension and gratuity as they become due.
3. Make those workers who are on contract permanent. Some have been temporary for over 15 years.
4. Give essential services workers a bonus for every month that the pandemic lasts. Treat them as people specially impacted and share that $5 million in the stimulus package that cannot be explained.
5. Mr Prime Minister, publicly apologise to our doctors, nurses and orderlies for calling them thieves and incompetents.

We believe that undertaking all of the above together with some serious national prayers and praise will be showing true appreciation to all of our essential services workers.

NDC