smiddy,
Who said tha ONLY GB members can work on translation work? Most likely, for this type of publication the GB will reach out to others for help. People are mistaken if they feel that only GB members can do it. It is very likely, they won't.
Why would they hold back from using individuals from Greece or Israel who are knowledgeable with biblical languages as well? After all, the NWT is available in modern Greek, and modern Hebrew (New Testament for now). Who says these people have no interest in studying biblical languages too, or in helping out the NWT Translation Committee if needed? Someone here mentioned once that he had personal knowledge of a JW in Greece who was a translator, and was equally at home with both modern and biblical Greek, and in fact had assisted Bible translation work for decades.
Many comments made here that the NWT Committe can't read Hebrew or Greek is mostly bias against the WT Society. There is no proof the Society can't come up with someone who can read Greek. By the way, George Gangas was Greek, spoke fluent Greek, and learned Spanish after he learned English in his twenties. Can someone tell me how Gangas could not learn to read biblical Greek (being Greek himself), but yet was able to learn Spanish fluently as a third language? Oh, please!