THE DOMINICA LABOUR PARTY MANIFESTO 2014 Relentlessly Pursuing The Dream Of A Prosperous, Peaceful And Just Dominica VOTE LABOUR ✖ Leadership is everything! LABOUR IN THE COMMUNITY VOTE LABOUR ✖ Leadership is everything! THE DOMINICA LABOUR PARTY LABOUR Ka Twavay! CONTENTS Page Page • Letter From Political Leader 4 - 5 • Youth 39 - 41 • Introduction 6 - 7 • Gender 42 • The Economy 8 • Indigenous Prople 43 - 44 • Financial Policies 9 - 10 • Sports 45 - 46 • Primary Infrastructure 11 - 12 • Culture and The Arts 47 - 48 • Preserving and Protecting the Environment 13 - 14 • Public Service 49 - 50 • Towards the establishment • Civil Service 51 of a Green Economy 15 - 16 • Social Safety Net 52 - 53 • Entrepreneurship and Micro- • Law and Order, Justice, Business Development 17 - 19 National Safety • Agriculture and Fisheries 20 - 21 and Security 54 - 55 • Manufacturing • Embracing the Diaspora 56 - 57 and Agro Processing 22 • Foreign Policy 58 - 60 • Tourism 23 - 25 • Conclusion 61 - 62 • The Society-Poverty Level 26 • Family and Community 27 • Health 28 - 29 VOTE LABOUR • Education 30 - 31 cont’ on 34 • The Candidates 32 - 33 • Science and Technology 35 - 36 • Housing 37 - 38 Leadership is everything!✖ THE DOMINICA LABOUR PARTY 3 LETTER FROM THE POLITICAL LEADER Fellow Dominicans, turn around the economy and society in Dominica that two I must start by thanking you for outstanding leaders made the the confidence you have shown ultimate sacrifice before the in me by electing me to play an end of the term. However, increasingly important role as during that short period of a political leader from 2000. time they convinced us Little did I realize then the that success would only enormity of the responsibility be achieved by leaders that would be thrust upon me who were fully committed by a succession of challenges to the principles of hard - local, regional and global - work, honesty, integrity, during the next 14 years. accountability, justice and inclusion. As many of you would recall, one of the first casualties of When I was handed the globalizing process at the the mantle of national close of the 20th century was leadership in 2004, with our banana industry. No longer God’s help, I followed could we rely on preferential the path carved out access to European markets by my immediate and bank on a substantial stream predecessors. Then of income. Yet the incumbent in 2008 we were hit by United Worker’s Party the storm stirred up by misunderstood the changes the financial crisis and and continued to borrow the global recession. recklessly and spend lavishly. As a small, open Dominica was soon reeling economy that relied from the austerity measures on trade and investment imposed by the International from developed countries, Monetary Fund to correct the we felt the impact of their fiscal damage caused by such shrinking economies. irresponsibility. Added to this, Dominica, because of its location and In 2000 the people of Dominica topography, fell victim to the instinctively turned to the destructive forces of nature - Dominica Labour Party and hurricanes, floods, landslides, gave it the mandate for “A earthquakes, sea swells - that New Start”. Unfortunately, so were released worldwide by demanding was the effort to climate change. ...This Manifesto is therefore a record of how we have pursued that dream relentlessly; and how we intend using that rich experience as a springboard for realizing our shared vision in the coming years... LABOUR Ka Twavay! LETTER FROM THE POLITICAL LEADER cont’d from page 4 Let me remind you, however, that the Dominica from the family, the village community, the school, the Labour Party saw these challenges, not as disasters, workplace, up to the House of Assembly. but as opportunities to use our God-given resources to pursue the vision of a prosperous, peaceful and just We further pledge that we shall leave no one behind Dominica. This Manifesto is therefore a record of how as we pursue the shared vision for Dominica. Not we have pursued that dream relentlessly; and how we even the most vulnerable members of society will be intend using that rich experience as a springboard for overlooked. Indeed the social protection of the young realizing our shared vision in the coming years. and the old, the sick and the needy, form an integral part of our Growth and Social Protection Strategy for We have a team made up of competent, committed taking Dominica forward. and caring men and women, of varying ages and experience, standing as Candidates at the next As we approach the next election, I ask you to vote for election. We are all united around the DLP pledge to the Dominica Labour Party. We know the terrain. you that we shall not give up our efforts to improve the We have walked the walk. We have confronted and standard of living and the quality of life of our people. overcome the big challenges and delivered the goods. In order to achieve this, we shall continue to diversify All along the way we have been encouraged by you and grow our economy, simultaneously making it face-to-face and through the social media. We are not resistant to external shocks and more sustainable over novices. We are the best-equipped Party to achieve time. We believe that this can only be achieved by true Independence by merging political sovereignty increasing the investment in our human resources, by with economic security, prosperity and social justice. continuing to educate and train our people to become I gratefully and humbly remind you that we need your more enterprising in the emerging highly competitive support to complete the job that you gave to us in global village. Throughout the process we will act 2000. responsibly in mobilizing the financial resources that are necessary to make things happen. We will make Dominica prosperous, peaceful and Yours sincerely just through Good Governance and a fair distribution of our wealth. During the past 14 years we have represented you to the best of our ability. We have listened to you, in private and in public, and we have VOTE LABOUR responded by empowering you to become partners in Roosevelt Skerrit development, with equal opportunities to achieve. In the process we have instilled a sense of responsibility and accountability in all social institutions ranging Leadership is everything!✖ THE DOMINICA LABOUR PARTY 5 Introduction When the Dominica Labour Party came to power in The other was the technological revolution based on 2000, after 28 years out of office, the country was in a the micro-chip. This made it possible for volumes of state of crisis. It was still suffering from the whirlwind information and other resources to be transmitted over of fiscal irresponsibility of the United Workers’ Party long distances instantaneously. Geographical borders (UWP) that would necessitate the adoption of the no longer served as barriers to trade in goods and economic stabilization programme recommended by services; and the world became a highly competitive the International Monetary Fund. Basically the UWP marketplace. misunderstood - and continues to misunderstand - the new world order that was evolving. The impact of these changes on small open economies was dramatic. No longer was it possible to rely on The last 5 years of the 20th century saw the climax of preferential access to traditional markets with primary two fundamental on-going developments. One was agricultural products. In the case of Dominica it led to the tendency for increasing numbers of governments, the demise of the banana industry, the main pillar of through the World Trade Organization, to adopt free- our economy. market economic systems. This led them to negotiate dramatic reductions in barriers to commerce and to These changes also made developing countries establish international agreements to promote free vulnerable to the greed of financial institutions which trade in goods, services, and financial assets. were able, in unregulated environments, to arrange and transfer investments quickly, on exorbitant terms. In the case of Dominica, large loans with high interest rates were readily accepted by the UWP. NEW CRUISE SHIP TERMINAL ...Coming in Labour’s next term! VOTE LABOUR✖ 6 Leadership is everything! THE DOMINICA LABOUR PARTY Introduction cont’d from page 6 The mandate given to the DLP in 2000 was based on a 21st Century Vision of sustainable growth of the economy, together with a commitment to the socialist ideals of the Labour Movement. Hence the goals and objectives of the Dominica Labour Party revolved around fiscal discipline, diversifying and growing the economy, and the more equitable distribution of the wealth of the nation. In the new dispensation equal opportunities would be given to all citizens to help create wealth and employment; to ensure that poverty would be eradicated; and to improve both the standard of living and the quality of life of all Dominicans. The stresses of the global changes took their toll on a succession of political leaders. Two of them - Hon. Rosie Douglas and the Hon. Pierre Charles - laid down their lives for this nation within a period of less than three and a half years. So to hedge their bets, the Dominica Labour Party elected a promising young leader to pilot the nation through the coming years, which commentators predicted would be turbulent. It was a wise decision. When the Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit was elected leader of the Dominica Labour Party, and Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, in January 2004, he at the age of 31, became one of the world’s youngest leaders. During the next 10 years, he laid the foundation for the transformation of the economy and society of Dominica and made significant progress in pursuing the vision of a prosperous, peaceful and just Dominica.