(MENAFN- Caribbean News Now)
By Melanius Alphonse\nCaribbean News Now associate managing editor\\n
ROSEAU, Dominica \u2013 At the official launch of Octavia \u201cTeacher Bonnie\u201d Alfred, the candidate for Castle Bruce constituency, Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit, having compared his Dominica Labour Party (DLP) and Lennox Linton\u2019s, United Workers Party (UWP) \u2013 the \u201cdifference between quantitative and qualitative,\u201d went further to denounce UWP\u2019s citizenship by investment (CBI) model \u201cis a joke,\u201d alluding to a joker in a pack of cards.\n
\u201cTheir CBI model is a joke,\u201d Skerrit emphasized, \u201cIt is suicidal\u201d But they had to agree to it, to get campaign funding. All these pretty ads you see surfacing were produced and financed by one sponsoring company.\u201d\n id=\"mNCC\" language=\"javascript\">medianet_width='468';medianet_height= '60';medianet_crid='637422217'; id=\"mNSC\" src=\"http:\/\/contextual.media.net\/nmedianet.js?cid=8CUVV6306\" language=\"javascript\"> \n\n
\u201cTheir agreement to give all their CBI business to one company would be disastrous for Dominica. His [Linton\u2019s] plans to do away with all other CBI agents but one, would wreck this economy. He can come and suggest otherwise but I know they have promised one company an exclusive agency for Dominica\u2019s CBI program,\u201d Skerrit said.\n
Does Linton\u2019s CBI \u201cjoke\/suicidal\u201d plans have anything in common with \u201cCambridge Analytica, Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL) and Henley & Partners featured in most Caribbean countries with Citizenship by Investment Programs (CIPs) and Saint Lucia, one expert asked?\n
It has also been established in the international press and the UK parliament that SCL was engaged with the ruling United Workers Party (UWP) in Saint Lucia, an affiliate party to Linton\u2019s UWP in Dominica.\n
Speaking at a Mother\u2019s Day event, Skerrit, revealed that agreements will be signed soon for new housing in Roseau, stating, \u201cWe will build homes in the City of Roseau, we will also build homes in Roseau South, to help alleviate the housing challenges which we have in the City of Roseau and of course in Trafalgar as well in the Roseau Valley.\u201d\n
\u201cThis is why the government has made a concerted effort to build homes, as many as possible to ensure that we can provide for families. Those of you who are waiting, I will say to you with God\u2019s help, you won\u2019t wait in vain,\u201d he said.\n
According to Skeritt, Dominica\u2019s housing revolution is good public policy. It is funded entirely by the CBI programme introduced in 1993 and earlier this month destined to become \u201cthe world\u2019s first climate-resilient nation, the World Bank offered Dominica $27 million for geo-energy.\n
Skerrit repeated Dominica\u2019s Housing revolution reality during the launching of \u201cTeacher Bonnie,\u201d emphasizing \u201cI know housing is a major concern here in the constituency. Very soon, over 123 families will be receiving new homes. Rest assured; everyone will be housed in the Castle Bruce constituency,\u201d he said.\n
The Dominica Housing revolution, Skerrit\u2019s initiative, to build 5,000 houses throughout Dominica, under contract by Montreal Management Consultants Est (MMCE), embarked on an ambitious goal to ensure that Dominica becomes the world\u2019s first climate resistant nation.\n
\u201cThe flagship project: Bellevue Chopin Housing is the first large scale installation of fibre optic services to an entire community on the island. All the utilities are underground thus making the reconnection of these a rapid process in the event the main services are lost,\u201d Chris Timmins, project director of MMCE Dominica, said.\n
\u201cAll new buildings are constructed from a reinforced concrete technology, equipped with hurricane proof windows, underground services. The homes are designed and built to the European upper middle-income standard with all two- and three-bedroom homes, two fully fitted bathrooms and a fully fitted kitchen along with generously sized rooms. The homes are in excess of 1,600 square feet,\u201d he added.\n
Skerrit remains committed to ensuring that the government continues the objective of providing a climate resilient country and the ambitious goal to ensure that Dominica becomes the world\u2019s first climate resistant nation. Thus, there has been a direct boost to the construction industry since the Housing revolution programme began following tropical storm Erika in 2015 and hurricane Maria in 2017.\n
In the process, Dominica is boosting economic growth locally and regionally, helping to lower unemployment contribution to the socio-economics of the region. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) annual economic review, December 2018, indicate that Dominica despite the odds grew by 0.5 percent in contrast to Saint Lucia 0.6 percent (Anguilla 1.9 percent: Antigua Barbuda 6.5 percent: Grenada 4.8 percent: Montserrat 1.6 percent: St Kitts 3 percent: St Vincent 3.2 percent).\n
\u201cThere are presently roughly 1,000 construction workers directly employed in the construction of the housing developments. In addition to people who are indirectly involved as delivery drivers, air and sea transport, suppliers, concrete companies, quarries, etc, at the same time a large proportion of the construction costs are directly benefitting the local population creating employment and contributing to Dominica\u2019s economic development,\u201d Deputy Prime Minister Reginald Austrie, noted recently.\n
\n
At the UWP news conference May 10, Linton said \u201cThe UWP plans to continue the National Employment Program (NEP) \u201conce the party gains power. Government will provide 12,000 jobs in Dominica by the year 2025. The jobs will come in agriculture; the jobs will come in tourism, the jobs will come in manufacturing, renewable energy and water industries.\u201d\n
Dominica\u2019s Minister for Climate Resilience, Disaster Management, Environment and Urban Renewal, Joseph Isaac, addressing a climate resilience consultation in building community resilience and to create the enabling environment for the development of climate-related projects May 15, said:\n
\u201cThe issue of climate resilience will, therefore, involve significant training across the board and also the sharing of knowledge at the community level,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cIt will, therefore, require leadership and participation of everyone involved.\u201d\n
According to the minister, the four major components for the building of climate resilience anywhere in the world are financial resilience, the environmental and the physical aspect, that is, building infrastructure networks and also housing.\n
He challenged participants to develop action plans aimed at starting \u201ca revolution\u201d of building resilience at the community level.\n
A request for comment from Caribbean News Now, May 16, to Nicolas George, UWP press relations office has thus far gone unanswered.\n\n
What area of focus is planned for the agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, renewable energy and water industries jobs?\n How will NEP be financed?\n How will the UWP finance its housing plan\/project?\n What is the UWP housing plan expected to entail? How many houses, location, design, etc.\n Is there a blueprint for the UWP housing project and is it available for public review?\n Will the UWP raise taxes?\n\nPublic response to Linton\u2019s policy on social media said, \u201cWell he [Linton] has dreams that come true. What the opposition gang bangers have are nightmares and empty words. Nothing to show. Linton\u2019s plans will raise taxes, which amounts to a pay cut.\u201d\n
At the launching of \u201cTeacher Bonnie\u201d, Skerrit, reiterated that, \u201cDominica is in a precarious position after the passing of Hurricane Maria and we are still in a build back mode; we are in the intensive care unit. We need an A team to pull us out of the mess. Dominica cannot afford too many loans and fewer than 25,000 Dominicans are contributing to the coffers of the Treasury.\u201d\n
In a previous unpublished request for comment from counsel to the government of Dominica, Anthony Astaphan, SC, said, \u201cOur progress since Maria has been astonishing and our progress since Dominica was in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program based on the economy inherited from UWP; I think [it] has been simply fantastic, with full appreciation and applause from the regional and international community. And you have these guys [UWP\u2019s] getting up and making these statements that make absolutely no sense to anybody else.\u201d\n
\u201cThe UWP current plans will destroy Dominica\u2019s Housing, the CBI program, and return the country to the stone age,\u201d a social media commenter said. \u201cIt\u2019s not the intervention of psychology; it is the practice of ideas in action. Its performance in a proactive, positive manner, not bombastically verbosity of opposition gang bangers and looters.\u201d
MENAFN2705201902110000ID1098578050