Grenada cuts links with Taiwanese firm

ST GEORGE’S – It was a telephone call that Finance Minister Nazim Burke could not ignore even as he stood in the cemetery watching the last rites being administered.
The call was from a reporter wanting to know whether Burke had been made aware of the arrest of senior officials of a Taiwanese company that had earlier expressed interest in investing billions of United States dollars in Grenada.
“It is news to me. I’ve not heard anything on that,” Burke told the female journalist.
However, a few days later, he was hosting a news conference telling reporters that the proposals by Sewang One World to pump as much as US$5 billion in the local economy had been taken off the table.
“A few days ago we received a report that the principals of the company known as Sewang One World with whom the government has been exploring investment opportunities . . . have been arrested in Taiwan on charges of bank fraud,” Burke said.
A report of the arrest was published in the August 24 edition of the China Times. (CMC)