The Grenada Government has confirmed the recent opening of a Consular office in Miami Beach, Florida, where approximately 5,000 Grenadian expatriates reside.
At the official opening, Grenada’s Ambassador to the United States in Washington, DC, Dr Angus Friday, remarked that the opening of the new consulate “gives Grenada a warm feeling” with John Munroe, a Grenadian resident in Orlando, Florida indicating that 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.
The newly appointed Grenadian Consul in South Florida, South African-born Warren Newfield, stated, “There is a very large expatriate Grenadian community in Florida and the government of Grenada wanted to ensure that their consular needs are catered for.”
This new Consulate in Miami Beach, Florida has generated a negative reaction from New York-based Grenadians, who have already been voicing frustration and dismay over the closure of the island’s consulate in New York.
The New York group pointed out in response that the Grenadian community in New York consists of more than 100,000 Grenadians, more than 20 times larger than that in South Florida. They 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 fully-fledged Consul General.
Grenada’s Ambassador to the United States in Washington, DC, Dr Angus Friday, was expected to address the issue at a town hall meeting in New York and it was likely that he will be pressed vigorously on the matter.
