It Has Been a Difficult Year For Our Country

Let me extend season greetings to Dominicans everywhere. Christmas is indeed a time of glad tidings but for us here in Dominica this is anything but a joyful time.

As we end the year we are saddened by the loss of almost two dozen young men victims of escalating violence. Imagine the pain and suffering of the families experiencing these tragic losses. We are still reeling from the news of the partial suspension by the United States government of travel into that country by immigrants and nonimmigrants from Dominica beginning in January 2026.

Of profound distress to the people of Dominica is the horrific destruction of our rain forest in Deux Branches and the destabilization of our natural environment by the Skerrit regime. With respect to our electoral process we have witnessed an Electoral Office that appears committed to disenfranchising thousands of voters by having their names removed on the list because they are unable to purchase a passport, not for travel but to exercise their right to vote in this country.

We are experiencing a crisis of governance. Scores of Dominicans under this government are facing a bleak Christmas and an even darker future. The clouds of depression, hopelessness and extreme anguish are descending upon our people, washing away their hopes, their dreams and their expectations of a bright future. 

This Christmas,  many families will go without even as they witness a handful of Dominicans accumulate more wealth at the expense of state resources. This Christmas when the rain falls as it will, scores of Dominicans will huddle under leaky roofs, as they whisper in the dark hoping against hope for a better, brighter future in our country.

I urge you my fellow Dominicans, at this the season of Christmas, in this time, to spare a moment for the less fortunate among us, the vulnerable, the elderly, the youth, the unemployed and those that are truly struggling to survive here in this country under a government that has grown more uncaring and cruel to its people. 

Let us therefore summon that inner strength and courage to do something about our current situation and when elections are called to get rid of an administration that has not worked in the best interest of its people.

My fellow Dominicans

Allow me to take a closer look at some of the issues that I highlighted at the start. First it was Canada, then the United Kingdom and now the United States. In less than two weeks, because of the reckless behavior, greed and uncaring actions of Roosevelt Skerrit and his administration concerning the citizenship by investment program, thousands of Dominicans will be denied entry into the United States of America. 

Students looking to further their studies at top US universities, will be forced to go elsewhere. No more labour Day travel to New York for others. Families will be separated, unable to travel for funerals, medical care, vacation, familiy reunions or other lawful purposes. 

And it may get worse, because a review of the US policy is expected at the end of six months and if no measures are taken to clean up the CBI program a partial ban could become a full ban where Dominicans will be banned completely from travel to the US.

Thanks to PM Skerrit for refusing to listen when the alarm was raised over 15 years ago. In fact, when I first pointed to the shortcomings of the due diligence process and the sale of our passports to crooks and criminals going back to 2009, I was accused of being unpatriotic, of destroying the country’s image. 

I was sued in court by PM Roosevelt Skerrit. But as proof of the excesses of the program came to light, that lawsuit mysteriously disappeared from the court’s calendar, as though some unseen hand had deleted the files.

The Prime Minister had 15 years to fix the mess, yet he did nothing, instead cashing in the billions and diverting a substantial amount to MMC and others as he saw fit. Now the ordinary Dominicans are paying the price, a huge one. 

But we are fighting back on the lack of accountability and transparency for the CBI program. Our lawsuit against the government demanding accountability is making its way through the courts and is up for a hearing on January 26, 2026. 

My fellow Dominicans, we have witnessed a vicious assault on the pristine natural environment of our beloved country in Deux Branche, as the fragile ecosystem is being destroyed in the name of progress. No environmental impact assessment, and violation of the Physical Planning Act, yet the destruction continues.

We are being told by a very deceptive government that the only place in the country where rocks can be extracted to build an airport is at Deux Branche. Yet rocks out of Layou and elsewhere are being used in similar construction activities in the region.   So why destroy a country to build an airport….who does that? First it was the Cabrits National Park, now it’s the Central Forest Reserve. Where does the madness end?

The UWP- Team Dominica therefore joins the residents of Concord, Kalinago Territory and Marigot, environmentalists, geologists and other concerned citizens in calling for a complete halt to the illegal quarry activity currently taking place at Deux Branche.

My fellow Dominicans, we are growing tired of the increasing gun violence in this country that has resulted in the tragic deaths of a staggering 22 individuals just in the space of one year.  One death through violence is too many. The authorities have not done a good enough job of tracking down persons guilty of transporting illegal guns into the country. 

Barrels of guns and ammunition are mailed to this country, yet no one gets arrested, no one held to account and the violent assault on our young men continues. When will this end? How many more mothers and fathers will have to bury their children. When will the government take decisive action to put an end to this madness and restore hope to our people.

As I have traveled across this beautiful country, I come across mentally disturbed individuals. Many are frustrated by the lack of opportunities in our country. Frustration and hopelessness run wild! Let us act together to deal with this situation.

Today, the United Workers Party is offering to work together with the government of Dominica on a bi-partisan committee that will explore solutions to this crisis which continues to threaten our youth. Our Party has access to professionals who can offer their services and work together with those in government to come up with solutions. 

But in the meantime, we would recommend to the government of Dominica that it pays greater attention to the increasing mental health issues in this country. Young people are falling through the cracks.

Now my fellow Dominicans let’s turn our attention to the vexing issue of Electoral Reform. In October, the Electoral Office started a confirmation process aimed at cleansing our bloated voters list. But from the outset, it was clear that the Electoral Office main concern was to provide an advantage to the DLP.

The Electoral Office mischievously reversed without justification, the use of birth certificates together with affidavits for confirmation knowing full well that thousands of Dominicans would not be able to maintain their names on the voters list. How could this be right or even justified.

The Electoral Office deliberately refused to put offices in entire villages where they know that the UWP has strong support like in Warner, More Prosper, San Sauver, Tarish Pit, Stockfarm. This imposes an illegal and disproportionate cost on individuals in those constituencies to maintain their names on the voters list. 

Labour Party offices in some constituencies were selected as confirmation centers, and an overwhelming number of Labour Party operatives were selected to staff the confirmation centers. All that is being done with one clear intention. Limit the number of known UWP supporters whose names remain on the list while maximizing the number of DLP supporters.

We again call upon the Electoral Office to get its act together. Their role is not to go to bat for the DLP regime but to act in a responsible and transparent manner, to uphold democracy and protect our electoral process from fraud and abuse.

We therefore demand that the Electoral Office immediately restore the use of birth certificates along with a photo ID as a reliable and just means to confirm voters’ names on the list. 

That the Electoral Office accommodate villages they have ignored by either opening new offices in those places or sending their enrolment officers to those villages. It’s time to clean up the confirmation mess. Inaction is not an option when the very future of democracy is under threat.

We will never accept, I repeat never accept the deliberate disenfranchisement of our voters.

 In the meantime, we encourage persons already in possession of drivers’ licenses or passports or social security cards to find the closest confirmation center and confirm their names on the voters list.

My fellow Dominicans where do we go from here? It is important that we dispel these dark looming clouds from over our Nation. Let us work together in helping to build our country, let’s stop the destruction of our young people, let us act fairly and responsibly as we reform our electoral process, and let us offer hope to our Nation of a better brighter tomorrow.

The UWP under my leadership has a plan to do just that through our ‘Ten Pillars with Shared Prosperity For All’ to transform this country. At the center of this plan is to restore hope to our young people, bring back our agriculture, build factories to process our products, protect our environment, increase the minimum wage, care for the elderly and vulnerable and put this country on an irreversible path to economic growth and prosperity.

Ultimately, we will put the country’s money in the people’s pockets. Dominica’s money belongs to the people. When we do that, the result is always better, less poverty more prosperity. Thank You