Monday 29^th July 2019 – St. George’s Grenada: The recent weeks have been a roller coaster. Many rumours have been going around social media. I have held my tongue up to this point but now I am going to speak. 

At the outset, I must do the mature thing and publicly acknowledge that the situation at the SMC headquarters could have been handled better. There is no doubt there. I allowed my passion and emotion, and desire to create more jobs, to get the upper hand. The SMC CEO, Mr. Jacob, could also have been calmer and more level-headed, and could have dealt with the matter more diplomatically. However, I understand what it is like to manage something as big as carnival, it can have you on edge. Mr. Jacob, I hope we can organise a meeting in the upcoming week to publicly resolve any lingering resentment that we may have for each other. I am a woman who believes in forgiveness and righting wrongs. I know the time is ripe to deliver a very special  Spice Mas. I just want you to know that I am willing to meet and make peace. I will not be pressing any charges and I don’t want you to lose your job. You have had an excellent start and we need to wipe the slate clean. We have to stay focused on the mission to create a better Grenada.

I remember being in England at an event where our Prime Minister, Dr. Mitchell, spoke. He said something that resonated with me. Dr. Mitchell said he doesn’t care whether people are NNP or NDC. His main concern is to build Grenada. To do this we must all work together as one people. Those simple words reinforced my desire to invest my time and money in my country, and to play my role in building a brighter and more prosperous Grenada for the generations to come.

This is what Mount Pure is about. The present dispute is bigger than Spice Mas and selling a few bottles of water during carnival. Our team at Mount Pure analysed the economic year of Grenada and recognised that carnival is a time when our economy booms. We decided to use this period to double our shifts to provide some additional jobs to the many people in Grenada who are unemployed. When we sent out our advertisement announcing we were hiring we received over 2000 applications.

So this situation with SMC affects working Grenadians. People were at home awaiting a call to report to work. Mothers were banking on the opportunity to earn an income to help send their children back to school. Women hoped for a double shift to make extra cash to fix their leaking roofs. These things trouble me, and at the same I am determined to work harder to create more jobs for my people.

The court matter is not just about Mount Pure. It is about giving everyone a fair shot at earning a piece of the pie. We just want to know that bidding and tendering is open to all, and is equitable and transparent.

At present do you know that every year Grenada imports millions of dollars worth of water? Even when there are four very good water companies here on the island? I support of all the Grenadian water companies working together to create more jobs and to effectively supply the entire island. Water is essential to life and the demand for it will always be there. If our brothers and sisters at Glenelg, Poli and Blu are open to it, we at Mount Pure are ready and willing to engage in talks, plans and actions to jointly step up our water production and increase our standards of operation. This would help reduce the millions of dollars that we all presently spend on water from outside of Grenada, even though we have local water like Mount Pure which was recently placed 3rd in the premier International water competition.

In closing, I want to say that I am fully on board with Dr. Mitchell’s vision for building a better Grenada and Mount Pure intends to play a big part in this process.

I want to wish everyone a fantastic Spice Mas 2019. As you have fun and enjoy yourself in the mas, please be responsible, be respectful, be safe, be your brother’s keeper and most importantly Stay Hydrated!. God bless you all.

Mount Pure CEO

Rolanda McQueen