DOCSLIB.ORG

1 Address to the Nation by Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
1 Address to the Nation by Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit ADDRESS TO THE NATION BY HON. ROOSEVELT SKERRIT, PRIME MINISTER OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA MONDAY DECEMBER 2, 2019, ROSEAU Fellow Dominicans, it is with a sense of grave concern for the well-being of our country, that I address you. The Dominica Labour Party will, this evening, cancel all scheduled political meetings across the country. We take this step, not because of widespread violence or the breakdown of national law and order, which there is not. But because it is the prudent and cautious course of action in light of today’s political developments. We are taking this precaution to ensure that innocent Dominicans going about their lawful business, and Labour’s supporters attending public meetings, do not fall victim to supporters of the United Workers Party, who are clearly looking to provoke violence and unrest. As a mature and responsible political Party, the Labour Party is concerned about the wellbeing of all Dominicans. We will not put a single individual in harm’s way or at risk. As Prime Minister, the Leader of Government in this country is the head of the Cabinet and outside of the Attorney General, is the chief lawmaker. A Prime Minister, and certainly, no responsible person who aspires to be prime minister, can also be chief lawbreaker. Yet, in the last few months, but particularly, since the date of the general election was announced, we have repeatedly seen the Leader of the Opposition UWP, become the chief lawbreaker. From a video and notes going around social media, the public is aware that this morning, the presiding magistrate at the Roseau Magistrates’ Court, issued bench warrants for UWP Leader Lennox Linton and former UWP Leader, Edison James for their failure to appear at Court. This is not a government matter, but a legal one. We all recall the 7th of February, 2017 when rioting took place in the capital city and attempts were made to burn down the city by UWP supporters. These supporters were encouraged by Lennox Linton, Edison James and others to defy the police and engage in civil disturbance. As a result of their actions on that day, criminal charges were brought against Linton and James and they appeared before the Courts. The case relating to this matter was adjourned. As a result of the adjournment they were told to appear before the Court, today December 2nd. The adjournment of cases is not new, as time 1 must be given to the prosecution to gather and build their case as well as to accused persons to prepare their defences. Today being the scheduled date, the cases came on for hearing in the Court. When their matter was called, neither Lennox Linton nor Edison James appeared. In accordance with the law and rules, the Court Orderly called their names three times to summon them into Court. Neither one of them appeared. When they did not appear, the presiding Magistrate issued a bench warrant for their arrest. This is standard procedure. Linton, James and their lawyers, all know that when accused persons fail to appear in Court, an arrest warrant is issued. Why then did Linton and James refuse to go to Court until the warrant was issued? A warrant would have been issued for any other Dominican who had failed to appear in court to answer a criminal charge. Surely Linton and James do not think they are above the law? It is significant that not long after the issue of the warrant, three things happened. First - a written message started making the rounds on social media that the warrant had been issued. This note was very inflammatory. The note made it appear that the issue of the warrant was an act of wrongdoing on the part of the magistrate, rather than standard procedure. Second - Both Linton and James suddenly appeared in Court. Third - From videos being shared on social media, some residents of Marigot, Linton’s constituency, started dumping fridges, buckets, plywood and other combustible items into the road, making it impassable. These persons could be seen and heard waving UWP flags and shouting abuse. The material which been placed in the road was also set ablaze. This puts the safety and wellbeing of the public at risk. It threatens the tourism product. It is yet another tactic by the Opposition and its supporters to send abroad negative images of Dominica, give the impression of the breakdown of law and order, tarnish our country’s reputation, try to disrupt elections and bring in outsiders to take over, all for narrow political gain. I am calling on Lennox Linton, Edison James and the UWP, to bring an end to this lawlessness. I am calling on them to tell their supporters to stop. I am calling on Linton and the UWP to put Dominica first. Fellow Dominicans, this is part of a pattern. I have spoken to it before. In the last few days we have been hearing that the UWP has something planned to disrupt elections. 2 . The UWP stopped electoral reform from taking place with violent protests outside Parliament on May 23rd 2017 and by bringing an injunction in the Law Courts in September 2018, to stop Parliament from passing the legislation for electoral reform. Having blocked the electoral reform, the UWP is using its supporters to daily protest the lack of reform, the very thing which they have blocked. On Nomination Night, the UWP led a “walk” across town in the dark, long after its scheduled starting time, direct to the road outside State House which they knew had been closed off. Once at the barricades there, UWP supporters triggered a confrontation with the police. Joshua Francis, UWP Deputy Leader, Edison James and Daniel Lougay, were all present at the protests on the barricades that night but did nothing to try to calm the situation. UWP members present were insisting on seeing the President. They were insisting that the road be opened to let them through to attend a UWP meeting at Newtown. I have already explained that no such meeting had been scheduled by the UWP. This was just a trick or ruse by the UWP to bring large numbers of their supporters to the barricades. Protesters that night repeatedly threatened that there was going to be war. I have made it public and it has never been denied by the Opposition, that their operatives contacted Minister Donnie McClurkin, through his manager and told him that there was such widespread breakdown of law and order in Dominica that he would not be safe if he came to perform here. As a result, on November 21st, the day before the concert was scheduled to take place, I was forced to write Minister McClurkin a formal letter, denying these allegations and assuring him of his safety and that of his team. The attempt by UWP to block the gospel concert therefore failed. Night after night at their public meetings, the UWP has been telling their supporters that there is no certainty there would be elections on the 6th. This attempt to stop the elections was very much part of the narrative the UWP has been feeding to external forces and to the Secretary General of the OAS to try to justify and obtain outside interference in Dominica’s elections, particularly by the OAS. 3 . In order to frustrate these nefarious machinations of the UWP, the government was compelled to send Foreign Minister, the Hon Francine Baron and Ambassador Vince Henderson, to Washington on November 24th, to address the Permanent Council of the OAS. This was necessary to dispel the untruths being put out by the UWP, and to stop the OAS’ intervention in Dominica’s elections, and the taking of any other decision which would have been adverse to Dominica’s national interests. Two days ago, a UWP supporter was intercepted with a truckload of old tyres. UWP lawyers very quickly went to his defence. Where was he headed with the tyres and for what purpose? . On Sunday, as decent Dominicans were going home from church, they were treated to calypsos with the worst kinds of expletives on the UWP platform and not a single UWP candidate or leader asked the performing calypsonian to stop or conduct himself with decorum on their platform. None of them apologized for something that they should never have allowed. And now this morning we have the lawlessness at Marigot. These are the acts of a desperate man and Party who know they are losing and are trying to pull the country down with them. They are using a small group of supporters, lawful and unlawful means, to try to intimidate the general public and to try to create a negative narrative for the outside world. Their ultimate goal is to stop an election that they cannot win in the ballot box, not because of any kind of electoral abuse by the Labour Party Government, but because the UWP and its leadership have repeatedly demonstrated to the country that they do not care about Dominica or Dominicans and they are unfit to lead. This also explains why the UWP did not bring out a manifesto until 2 days ago and why their document is so full of errors and looks so hastily pulled together. They expected to have disrupted elections by now. The government of Dominica has every confidence that local security forces are fully competent and committed to exercising the skill and restraint required in the face of these acts of provocation. They will maintain safety and law and order in our country. They will not let the situation get out of hand and a few people tarnish Dominica’s good name.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Paper Delivered by Julian N. Johnson Chairman of the Integrity
    “POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRITY LEGISLATION IN THE ORGANIZATION OF EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES (OECS) WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO DOMINICA” Paper delivered by Julian N. Johnson Chairman of the Integrity Commission, Dominica th Tuesday 26 June, 2012 Caribbean Small States Conference, St Vincent and the Grenadines June 25 th – 26 th , 2012 ________________________________________________________________________________ “POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRITY LEGISLATION IN THE ORGANIZATION OF EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES (OECS) WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO DOMINICA” BY JULIAN N. JOHNSON 1. INTRODUCTION I have been invited to write a “practitioner’s paper” relating to the work of the integrity commissions in the member states of the OECS. It is taken that the Commonwealth Secretariat’s instructions, properly construed, require me to examine the recent anti-corruption statutes passed by the OECS governments and the performance of the integrity commissions focusing on the activities of the Integrity Commission of the Commonwealth of Dominica and drawing on my experiences as Chairman thereof over the past three years. Though my invitation is to produce a “practitioner’s paper” it would be remiss of me if I did not, at the outset, draw your attention to the study just published by an eminent regional academic and fellow practitioner in the field of the oversight of public sector ethical infrastructure – the former Contractor General of Jamaica, Dr. Derrick V. McKoy. In his book entitled “CORRUPTION: Law, Governance and Ethics in the Commonwealth Caribbean” (Hansib Pub., May 2012) the author sets out to address the issues of corruption in the Commonwealth Caribbean, the emerging law on the subject and the institutions established by member states to discourage corruption or to promote anti-corruption initiatives.
    [Show full text]
  • The University of Chicago the Creole Archipelago
    THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO THE CREOLE ARCHIPELAGO: COLONIZATION, EXPERIMENTATION, AND COMMUNITY IN THE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN, C. 1700-1796 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY TESSA MURPHY CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MARCH 2016 Table of Contents List of Tables …iii List of Maps …iv Dissertation Abstract …v Acknowledgements …x PART I Introduction …1 1. Creating the Creole Archipelago: The Settlement of the Southern Caribbean, 1650-1760...20 PART II 2. Colonizing the Caribbean Frontier, 1763-1773 …71 3. Accommodating Local Knowledge: Experimentations and Concessions in the Southern Caribbean …115 4. Recreating the Creole Archipelago …164 PART III 5. The American Revolution and the Resurgence of the Creole Archipelago, 1774-1785 …210 6. The French Revolution and the Demise of the Creole Archipelago …251 Epilogue …290 Appendix A: Lands Leased to Existing Inhabitants of Dominica …301 Appendix B: Lands Leased to Existing Inhabitants of St. Vincent …310 A Note on Sources …316 Bibliography …319 ii List of Tables 1.1: Respective Populations of France’s Windward Island Colonies, 1671 & 1700 …32 1.2: Respective Populations of Martinique, Grenada, St. Lucia, Dominica, and St. Vincent c.1730 …39 1.3: Change in Reported Population of Free People of Color in Martinique, 1732-1733 …46 1.4: Increase in Reported Populations of Dominica & St. Lucia, 1730-1745 …50 1.5: Enslaved Africans Reported as Disembarking in the Lesser Antilles, 1626-1762 …57 1.6: Enslaved Africans Reported as Disembarking in Jamaica & Saint-Domingue, 1526-1762 …58 2.1: Reported Populations of the Ceded Islands c.
    [Show full text]
  • XX Congress, Socialist Affairs (PDF)
    THE XX COTVGRESS THE WORLD ECONOMY: A COMMON RESPONSIBILITY The Socialist International held its Twentieth Congress at the headquarters of the United Nations in Netv York on 9-11 September 1996. More than one hundred and fifly parties and organisations from every continent took part. Some seven hundred delegates together with other parties of the United States and elsewhere represented the political parties social democratic orientation and from the UN diplomatic and organisations which belong invited to take part in the community brought the to the Socialist International Congress. Additional guests from numbers to around one thousand. Our venue, the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations, lent a particular DECISIONS OF T}IE XX CONGRESS REGARDING MEMBERS}IIP solemnity and symbolism to the CHANGE OF STATUS TO FULI MEMBERSHIP debates. ALBANIA: Social Democratic Party, PSD The XX SI Congress, which ALGERIA: Socialist Forces Front, FFS was opened by our president, CAPE VERDE: African Independence Party of Cape Verde, PAICV Pierre Mauroy (see page 4), had CHILE: Party for Democrary, PPD on its agenda three main CHILE: Socialist Party of Chile, PS themes: 'Markets serving people, HAITI: Party of the National Congress of Democratic Movements, KONAKOM not people serving markets', HUNGART Hungarian Socialist Party, MSZP peace, IVORY COAST Ivory Coast Popular Front, FPI 'Making keeping peace' MONGOLIA: Mongolian Social Democratic Party, MSDP and'A human rights agenda for NICAMGUA: Sandinista National Liberation Front, FSLN the twenty-first century'. Debating those themes were FULI MEMBENSHP social democratic leaders from ESTONIA: M66dukad around the world, some of MEXICO: Party of Democratic Revolution, PRD whose reflections are printed on POLAND: Social Democracy ofthe Republic of Poland, SdRP POLAND: Union of Labour, UP the preceding pages.
    [Show full text]
  • Final Report of the Oas Electoral Observation Mission to the General Elections in the Commonwealth of Dominica
    PERMANENT COUNCIL OEA/Ser.G CP/doc.4474/10 8 March 2010 VERBATIM FINAL REPORT OF THE OAS ELECTORAL OBSERVATION MISSION TO THE GENERAL ELECTIONS IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA December 18, 2009 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I: BACKGROUND AND NATURE OF THE MISSION ................................................ 3 CHAPTER II: POLITICAL SYSTEM AND ELECTORAL ORGANIZATION ..................................... 4 A. Historical Overview .....................................................................................................4 B. Political System and Actors .........................................................................................4 C. Voting Procedure .........................................................................................................7 D. Political party and elections financing ........................................................................9 CHAPTER III: MISSION ACTIVITIES AND OBSERVATIONS .................................................. 10 A. Pre-election political situation. .................................................................................10 B. Election Day ...............................................................................................................10 C. Observer Testimony ..................................................................................................11 D. Post-election Process ................................................................................................13
    [Show full text]
  • From Grassroots to the Airwaves Paying for Political Parties And
    FROM GRASSROOTS TO THE AIRWAVES: Paying for Political Parties and Campaigns in the Caribbean OAS Inter-American Forum on Political Parties Editors Steven Griner Daniel Zovatto Published by Organization of American States (OAS) International IDEA Washington, D.C. 2005 © Organization of American States (OAS) © International IDEA First Edition, August, 2005 1,000 copies Washinton, D.C. The opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Organization of American States or the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Editors: Steven Griner Daniel Zovatto ISBN 0-8270-7856-4 Layout by: Compudiseño - Guatemala, C.A. Printed by: Impresos Nítidos - Guatemala, C.A. September, 2005. Acknowledgements This publication is the result of a joint effort by the Office for the Promotion of Democracy of the Organization of American States, and by International IDEA under the framework of the Inter-American Forum on Political Parties. The Inter-American Forum on Political Parties was established in 2001 to fulfill the mandates of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and the Summit of the Americas related to the strengthening and modernization of political parties. In both instruments, the Heads of State and Government noted with concern the high cost of elections and called for work to be done in this field. This study attempts to address this concern. The overall objective of this study was to provide a comparative analysis of the 34 member states of the OAS, assessing not only the normative framework of political party and campaign financing, but also how legislation is actually put into practice.
    [Show full text]
  • DOMINICA This File Contains Election Results for the Dominica Legislative
    DOMINICA This file contains election results for the Dominica Legislative Council or House of Assembly in 1951, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1966, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2009 anD 2014. Results are missing for 1985 anD 1990. Year, Geography and Turnout YEAR Election Year DISTNO Constituency Number DISTNAME Constituency Name BALLOTS Total Ballots Cast SPOILT SPoilt Ballots REJECT RejecteD Ballots REGIS RegistereD Voters Candidates and Votes TU_C Dominica Trade Union CanDiDate Name TU_V Dominica Trade Union Votes AIIFP_C All IslanD InDustrial anD Farmers Party CanDiDate Name AIIFP_V All IslanD InDustrial anD Farmers Party Votes CFP_C Caribbean FeDeral Party CanDiDate Name CFP_V Caribbean FeDeral Party Votes DDLP_C Dominica Democratic Labour Party CanDiDate Name DDLP_V Dominica Democratic Labour Party Votes DDP_C Dominica Democratic Party CanDiDate Name DDP_V Dominica Democratic Party Votes DFP_C Dominica FreeDom Party CanDiDate Name DFP_V Dominica FreeDom Party Votes DLMA_C Dominica Liberation Movement Alliance CanDiDate Name DLMA_V Dominica Liberation Movement Alliance Votes DLP_C Dominica Labour Party CanDiDate Name DLP_V Dominica Labour Party Votes DUPP_C Dominica UniteD PeoPle’s Party CanDiDate Name DUPP_V Dominica UniteD PeoPle’s Party Votes LLP_C LeBlanc Labour Party CanDiDate Name LLP_V LeBlanc Labour Party Votes PLP_C Progressive Labour Party CanDiDate Name PLP_V Progressive Labour Party Votes PNM_C PeoPles National Movement CanDiDate Name PNM_V PeoPles National Movement Votes PWM_C Peasant anD Workers Movement CanDiDate Name PWM_V
    [Show full text]
  • Democracy in the Caribbean a Cause for Concern
    DEMOCRACY IN THE CARIBBEAN A CAUSE FOR CONCERN Douglas Payne April 7, 1995 Policy Papers on the Americas Democracy in the Caribbean A Cause for Concern Douglas W. Payne Policy Papers on the Americas Volume VI Study 3 April 7, 1995 CSIS Americas Program The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), founded in 1962, is an independent, tax-exempt, public policy research institution based in Washington, DC. The mission of CSIS is to advance the understanding of emerging world issues in the areas of international economics, politics, security, and business. It does so by providing a strategic perspective to decision makers that is integrative in nature, international in scope, anticipatory in timing, and bipartisan in approach. The Center's commitment is to serve the common interests and values of the United States and other countries around the world that support representative government and the rule of law. * * * CSIS, as a public policy research institution, does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this report should be understood to be solely those of the authors. © 1995 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This study was prepared under the aegis of the CSIS Policy Papers on the Americas series. Comments are welcome and should be directed to: Joyce Hoebing CSIS Americas Program 1800 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 Phone: (202) 775-3180 Fax: (202) 775-3199 Contents Preface .....................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 1999: Dominica Page 1 of 7
    U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Reports for 1999: Dominica Page 1 of 7 The State Department web site below is a permanent electro information released prior to January 20, 2001. Please see w material released since President George W. Bush took offic This site is not updated so external links may no longer func us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be co endorsement of the views contained therein. 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor U.S. Department of State, February 25, 2000 DOMINICA Dominica is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. A Prime Minister, a Cabinet, and a unicameral Legislative Assembly compose the Government. A President, nominated by the Prime Minister in consultation with the leader of the opposition party, and elected for a 5-year term by the Parliament, is head of state. The United Workers Party (UWP), led by Prime Minister Edison James, won 11 of 21 seats in Parliament in free and fair elections in 1995 and gained an additional seat in 1996. The Constitution calls for elections at least every 5 years, and the UWP lost control of the Government in the January 2000 general elections. The judiciary is independent. The Dominica Police is the only security force. It is controlled by and responsive to the democratically elected Government. There were occasional allegations of abuse by the police. The country's primarily agrarian economy depends on earnings from banana exports.
    [Show full text]
  • Dominica Nature Island Grenada, Rapid Renaissance After Destruction
    The N. 11 N.E. – MAY JUNE 2009 CThe magazine of Africa - Caribbeanurier - Pacific & European Union cooperation and relations REPOREPORRTT DominicaDominica NatureNature IslandIsland Grenada,Grenada, rapidrapid renaissancerenaissance afterafter destructiondestruction DOSSIEDOSSIERR SportSport targetstargets developmentdevelopment DISCOVEDISCOVERRINGING EEUURROPEOPE TheThe SwedishSwedish paradoxparadox The CThe magazine of Africa - Caribbeanurier - Pacific & European Union cooperation and relations Editorial Board Co-chairs Sir John Kaputin, Secretary General Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States www.acp.int Mr Stefano Manservisi, Director General of DG Development European Commission ec.europa.eu/development/ Core staff Editor-in-chief Hegel Goutier Journalists Marie-Martine Buckens (Deputy Editor-in-chief) Debra Percival Editorial Assistant and Production Joshua Massarenti Contributed in this issue Elisabetta Degli Esposti Merli, Sandra Federici, Andrea Marchesini Reggiani, Anne-Ma- rie Mouradian, Hans Pieenar, Pov, Igino Schraffl and Joyce van Genderen-Naar Project Manager Gerda Van Biervliet Artistic Coordination, Graphic Conception Gregorie Desmons Public Relations Andrea Marchesini Reggiani Distribution Viva Xpress Logistics - www.vxlnet.be Cover Nutmegs from Grenada. © Reporters.be / LAIF Back cover Indian river / Dominica, 2009. © Hegel Goutier Contact The Courier 45, Rue de Trèves www.acp-eucourier.info 1040 Brussels Visit our website! Belgium (EU) You will find the articles, [email protected] www.acp-eucourier.info
    [Show full text]
  • Cpa Post-Election Seminar: Dominica Report
    COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION CPA POST-ELECTION SEMINAR: DOMINICA REPORT 23-25 SEPTBEMBER 2020 About the CPA CONTENTS The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) connects, develops, promotes and supports parliamentarians and their staff to identify benchmarks of PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES 1 good governance and the implementation of the enduring values of the PROGRRAMME OVERVIEW 2 Commonwealth. The CPA collaborates with parliaments and other organisations, PROGRAMME BACKGROUND 3 including the intergovernmental 4 community, to achieve its statement PROGRAMME SUMMARY of purpose. It brings parliamentarians MONITORING AND EVALUATION REPORT 15 and parliamentary staff together to exchange ideas among themselves and SEMINAR PROGRAMME 16 with experts in various fields, to identify benchmarks of good practices and new MEMBERS OF THE DOMINICA HOUSE OF 22 policy options they can adopt or adapt in ASSEMBLY the governance of their societies. SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES 24 ABOUT THE CPA 38 © Commonwealth Parliamentary Association 2020 All rights reserved. This publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording or otherwise provided it is used only for educational purposes and is not for resale, and provided full acknowledgement is given to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association as the original publisher. Rights are not extended for the reproduction of any photography or design not owned by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association as contained in this publication. Views and opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Headquarters Secretariat and should not be attributed to any Parliament or Member of the Association. Cover design and illustrations by Bénite Dibateza with elements and images sourced from CPA Branches.
    [Show full text]
  • DOMINICA Country Profile
    October 2017 DOMINICA Country Profile Summary indicators Indicator Value Year Population number (last census) 71,293 2011 Population number (projection) 73,000 2015 Population growth rate 0.5% 2016 Population density 105/km2 2011 Urban composition 67% 2011 Average household size 3.02 2010 Age distribution (% under 15) 21.84% under 15 2016 Life expectancy at birth (years) 77 years (male:74 female:80.1) 2016 Under-five mortality 11/1,000 live births 2013 Maternal mortality 92 per 100,000 live births 2016 HDI ranking (value) 96 (0.726) 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index ranking (value) 38 (59) 2015 People below the poverty line 29% 2015 INFORM Risk Index Ranking (value) 113 (3.00) 2017 Literacy rate 91.8% (male:91.2% female:92.3%) 2015 Net migration rate -5.4 migrants/1,000 population 2016 Immunisation Coverage 96% 2013 Sources: IFPRI 2015, Census 2011, World Bank 2016, Caribbean Development Bank 2010, CIA World Factbook; Transparency International The Commonwealth of Dominica is a sovereign island country, part of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The island lies - southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its area is 750km2, and the highest point is Morne Diablotins. The island’s vegetation is dense, a consequence of its elevation and very high rainfall, which varies from about 1800mm per year on the western coast to over 7,500mm in the mountainous interior. Dominica is a lower middle-income country and the poorest of the southeastern Caribbean islands. (Clarke G. Collin 1991). Hazard profile communities of Canefield, Massacre, Mahaut, Cochrane, Coulibistrie and Campbell were most affected (IFRC 11/10/2011).
    [Show full text]
  • Nails, Rivets, and Brass Tacks Or Windmills and Castles in the Sky: Vision and Focus As Choices Facing Caribbean Policymakers in the Era of Globalization
    Nails, Rivets, and Brass Tacks or Windmills and Castles In The Sky: Vision and Focus As Choices Facing Caribbean Policymakers in the Era of Globalization Philbert Aaron Coppin State University Baltimore, Maryland Abstract This paper seeks to demystify both globalization and US educational policymaking in response to globalization. Rather, it portrays globalization as an autonomous form that is not headed by a world government and the US as not being immune to globalization’s ill effects. If there is one rule of globalization is that of innovation. The paper draws on these portrayals to derive lessons for policymakers in small islands like Dominica. Overall, the paper argues for a tempering of grand political visions that are the legacy of Caribbean geopolitical realities and a realistic and focused vision for education’s symbiotic interplay with the economy. Most specifically, the paper argues against using schools as a panacea for all social ills, particularly the current scourges of drugs and criminality. Keywords: Education; Dominica; USA Topics: 8. Issues of social capital—education 5. Governance 2. Crime and violence. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference. The Serenity Prayer - Reinhold Niebuhr As a schoolboy in the Commonwealth of Dominica in the 1970s, that period of constant political upheavals, I was seduced by politics. When in 1979, less than one year after the attainment of political independence, Dominica’s first Prime Minister, Patrick Roland John was overthrown and elections were called to replace John, at age seventeen, I addressed a political rally in the village of Cottage, north of Portsmouth, the island’s second town.
    [Show full text]