Last week’s opening by the Grenada government of a new consulate in Miami Beach, Florida, has provoked a reaction from New York-based Grenadians, who have already been voicing frustration and dismay over the closure of the country’s consulate in New York. Grenada’s ambassador to the United States in Washington, DC, Dr Angus Friday, is expected to address the issue at a town hall meeting in New York on June 7, when it is likely he will be pressed vigorously on the matter. The current situation and the fight to reopen the New York consulate has been highlighted in recent weeks in the media by outspoken Grenadian activist, Helen Grenade, apparently with little or no responsive action by the Grenada government in this regard. Meanwhile, a group of Grenadians in New York, using the name 'Grenadians for Change', is also campaigning for the reopening of the consulate in that region. The group met for the second time on Saturday, May 2, 2015, to express their frustration at what they describe as the continuing neglect of Grenadian nationals in New York and the surrounding area. The group issued a statement on Friday in which they claimed the closure of the consulate is unacceptable since Grenadians in the affected areas are being deprived of their fundamental right to have adequate protection and emergency consular services in a timely manner. They are urging the government to reopen the consulate office to ensure that adequate attention, protection, and consular services are provided to their nationals in New York. The group noted that the Grenadian government had closed the consulate in New York after being informed by the U.S. State Department that Derrick James, the former consul general, holds U.S. citizenship and therefore cannot represent another country in that post. Since its closure, consular services have been offered by the Grenada embassy in Washington, D.C. to Grenadians residing in New York and the states that fall within that jurisdiction. In an earlier response to a Caribbean News Now report on the same issue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "It is necessary to have adequate representation (as far as possible) to facilitate government’s obligation to its citizens... For this reason, Mr Derrick James was appointed as ambassador of Diaspora and humanitarian affairs in New York." However, the group claims that James' appointment as “ambassador” is bogus and unacceptable, since this position limits him to political activism and participation in activities at the United Nations. They argue that James is not in a position to attend to the consular needs of Grenadians in New York. Further, they noted that the Grenada embassy in Washington is hard to reach and the staff may lack empathetic understanding of the unique needs and circumstances of Grenadians living in New York. The recent opening of the consular office in Miami Beach, Florida, where approximately 5,000 Grenadian expatriates reside, has only served to exacerbate the concerns of Grenadians in New York that, with an expatriate community of over 100,000, their needs are being ignored. In particular, published comments made by some of those attending last week’s opening in Miami Beach were seized on by the group. Ambassador Friday, who is due to address the controversial absence of a consular office in New York next month, remarked that the opening of the new consulate “gives Grenada a warm feeling,” with New York Grenadians responding that they would also like to enjoy such a “warm feeling”. According to John Munroe, a Grenadian activist in Orlando, Florida, the new consulate in Miami Beach was timely and long in coming. "We now have a place we can go and get our consular needs met,” he said, prompting Grenadians in New York to ask why their similar needs are being ignored. The newly appointed consul in South Florida, South African-born Warren Newfield, stated, “There is a very large expatriate Grenadian community in Florida and the government wanted to ensure that their consular need is catered for.” The New York group pointed out in response that the Grenadian community there is 20 times larger than that in South Florida. The groups' members noted that Grenadian nationals in New York and the nearby states deserve to be able to access consular services in a similar manner to those in Florida. Their hope is that within the coming months, the government will agree to reopen the consulate in New York with a full-fledged consul general. Source: Caribbean News Now