Local businessmen complain bitterly of Chinese presence

Prime Minister Skerrit signs Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese.

None of the businessmen making the allegations to the newspaper used their names because they said they “feared retaliation from the authorities.”

The accusations ranged from the failure of the Chinese to pay taxes, to their taking over of local businesses, to inflating real estate prices and selling inferior products. Another criticism is that the Chinese do not hire local workers.

One businessman willing to speak on the record however is Fred Issa of Issa Trading. The local businessman told Matt Peltier on the popular “Hot Seat” program on Q95 FM that he was personally aware of the unfair practices conducted by the Chinese.

Issa indicated that on some occasions he have brought in containers of goods of a similar nature to that of the Chinese and that his are valued at upwards of $65 000 US dollars while the Chinese is valued at $10 000 US.

He observed that this deliberate under invoicing, added to the fact that the Chinese do not pay their fair share of VAT, has resulted in the loss of millions of dollars to the Treasury.

Since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Prime Minister Skerrit and the Chinese government in March 2004, scores of Chinese merchants have descended on Dominica, taking over local retail businesses or forcing scores of indigenous businesses to shut down since they are unable to compete on price.

The latest business to suffer from what some locals sarcastically refer to as the “Chinese Disease” is the Grand Bazaar and Royal Bazaar stores. The stores owned by Indian businessmen has been in operation for over twenty years and at one time employed as many as 90 local persons.

On Monday, owners announced that all the remaining workers will be laid off. They blamed the closure on the unfair competition from the Chinese and the fact that they are unable to compete because the playing field is not level.

The Skerrit Administration has come under increasing criticism for allowing the Chinese to compete so unfairly with local businesses. Many blame the MOU, which has still not been made public, and despite Skerrit's promise to "make 10 000 copies available," as the reason for the seemingly odd behavior of the authorities when dealing with the Chinese.

Supporters of the government and their Chinese policy point to the construction of the Windsor Park Stadium, the ongoing construction of the West Coast Road, and the State House, as been more than enough to compensate for the what is happening to the local business people.

However, others claim that Dominica is already paying too high a price for the physical construction undertaken by the Chinese.

The growing tensions between the Chinese visitors and the locals appear likely to intensify as more locals lose their jobs and the Chinese become more firmly entrenched in the country’s capital.