Browne compares hurricane recovery progress in Dominica and Babuda

Hurricane Irma destroyed 90% of Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, is explaining why Dominica is doing much better than Barbuda in its recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria and Irma in 2017.

Over one-year ago, Dominica was hit especially hard by Hurricane Maria while Irma, one of the fiercest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded, made landfall in Barbuda, leaving the island uninhabitable.

A latest ECLAC report claimed that Dominica was doing much better than other Caribbean islands.

“I am very happy for Dominica. When you look at the devastation that took place between Maria and Erika, they needed all the help that they could get,” Browne said while speaking on Pointe FM radio which he owns.

He said the difference is that the people of Dominica had their property insured unlike Barbudans.

“I believe that between insurance proceeds and other support that they received, Dominica could have seen easily an influx of maybe one hundred million dollars in revenue and they also have a strong CIP program stronger than ours,” Browne added.

He said Dominica is in a position to rebuild more rapidly than Barbuda for many other reasons.

“In Dominica, home owners would have drawn down on the insurance and would have been able to rebuild. They would have the local labor as well and we don’t have that in Barbuda,” he said.

The Antigua and Barbuda prime minister said his country failed to receive enough relief funding.

“We didn’t get a lot of relief money. When you look at Barbuda with two thousand people and Dominica with eighty thousand people, the amount of money would have been minuscule,” he said.

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21 Comments

  1. Dominica Man
    January 11, 2019

    We received a whole lot of help from other countries and organization, paired with the fact that our people are resilient people, God fearing to an extent we were blessed enough to pull things through. It could have been worst but thank God it was not for us. We pray for the other Islands still worst off than we are right now but we should not try to take all the credit for ourselves.

  2. RandyX
    January 10, 2019

    When did Skerrit engage Brown as his Election Manager? These guys are as bad as each other!

  3. carltymas
    January 9, 2019

    Oh yes. Dominica has come a long way in the year plus months after the Monstrous Maria and the mayhems the days that followed. When I woke up the next morning, hiked to town the next days after, I could only try my best not to break down and cry. I thought we were definitely finished and unlike Barbuda, we did have a twin sister to run to or the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Anguilla and the rest, we had no rich motherland to look for us, we only had us. I was so depressed, wasn’t eating, sleeping; it was just hard to see my beautiful land looking like a burnt down wasteland. But here we are 15 months later, and I am very proud of us as a people and our progress.

  4. January 9, 2019

    If was Skerrit that have his own radio station you would hear Dominican run their mouth and say all kind of negative things. that was a good comment by Mr. Browne

  5. don2fresh
    January 9, 2019

    Insurance has nothing to do with Dominica’s progress nuh gaston. The only people if half of Dominica had there house insured, that is plenty and also insurance still doesn’t cover it all. Dominica did a fine job because we were willing to stand up on our own 2 feet with or without anybody at our sides and do it on our own. Some ran, yes we had some disturbances the following day, but the majority of the people were cleaning up their villages and workplaces. Do you know that in some communities the people are responsible for connecting their own water supply back? As our Prime Minister says; “Dominica is Dominican’s own to take care of” and that is exactly what Dominicans did after Maria.

  6. Ibo France
    January 8, 2019

    Gaston Browne wanted the inhabitants of Barbuda to abandon all habitation of the island just after Maria struck. He did not muster much effort to garner much monetary and material support from international donors to rebuild this tiny island in a timely manner. Dominica got much more assistance from outside forces. Still, there are so many things in the country that need urgent attention. Numerous public buildings are in a state of serious disrepair, too many people living in damaged houses, so many roads and bridges begging to be repaired, jobs woefully inadequate and I could go on and on. Dominica lies dead last in everything positive. Those are the stubborn facts.

  7. Massacre
    January 8, 2019

    Let us rememebr that Skerrit always get a fellow Island leader to sing his praises before every election.
    The last time it is Ralph Gonsvales of St. Vincent he used to tell Dominicans that we in Da do not need an international airport while he went to build one for his people. So I am not suprised that Browne is doing this favor for Skerrro in this time of under-perfomance as a P.M
    Dominicans I am calling on all of us to rebuke such unwarranted attack on our democracy. We shall not be fooled again, doh matter how any overseas P.Ms you pay to sing your songs.
    Skerrooo must Go!

  8. dissident
    January 8, 2019

    De Antigua PM sounds like a public relations officer for Skerrit…..if i stoop dat low i will break my back.
    skerrit is weak!!!!!!!

    • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
      January 8, 2019

      All of that is nothing more than making a fool out of Roosevelt!

      They say these things in public, while they are laughing at Roosevelt . Prior to the hurricane people did not own land in Barbuda:  the natives simply built houses on any vacant land. Since the hurricane which caused the island to be overwhelm with salt water; Gaston Brown began selling Barbuda to the Chines.

      Ask Roosevelt with all the recovery progress which they claim in Dominica, why is it Gaston saw it fit to commence construction of an International Airport in Barbuda; whereas there is already an International Airport in Antigua?

      Such rhetoric  are design to make Dominicans believe Roosevelt is doing something good. Gaston is one of them who caused Ross University to leave Dominica, because of the transit fee the students pay before they board LIAT to Dominica.

      When he was convinced Ross left, he made a fool out of Roosevelt again saying he is removing the transit fee to help keep Ross in Dominica!

  9. DC
    January 8, 2019

    May I add the leadership. We have a champion at the helm. PM Skerrit is an amazing leader. He and his team have done a remarkable job and we will reward him with a landslide victory.

    We are not regressing. We will vote the DLP back in office because we need our leader to continue to transform this Nation!

    • Neville
      January 10, 2019

      OMG I’ve heard it all now. You are either totally delirious or you are Skerrit himself making us believe you are DC.

  10. zandoli
    January 8, 2019

    How many excuses can that man generate in 7 sentences? You were elected to serve the people. Just do your job and stop making so many excuses.

  11. delbert harry
    January 8, 2019

    Dominica is the 5th larges French Creole speaking island, but not the 3rd larges english speaking.
    Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados have larger english speaking populations.
    We do have the third largest island south of Haiti.

  12. delbert harry
    January 8, 2019

    Dominica is the 5th larges French Creole speaking population, but not the 3rd larges english speaking. Jamaica, trinidad, barbados, Grenada, Saint vincent, and Saint Lucia have larger populations. We do have the third larges island when compared with islands south of Haiti.

    • Shaka Zulu
      January 8, 2019

      Delbert that was put in there deliberately to see who reading properly and let people go read up. Note i said 3rd largest English speaking island by area. :) population is another perspective by itself. One google click will show DA not 3rd largest English speaking island per population.

      • Liz M
        January 8, 2019

        Shaka, doe dig, it’s much a-do about nothing. Some read without paying attention, glad you took high ground.

  13. Nan
    January 8, 2019

    Kudos to my team Dominica 🇩🇲. Facts not fiction and innuendos!

  14. The gospel truth
    January 8, 2019

    Brown doesn’t have any idea just how many people in Dominica still live under their cellars or
    Under tarps because they didn’t have insurance. Brown has never tried to fix Barbuda yet without
    The knowledge of Barbudians, weeks after the hurricane, he had backhoes clearing land to build an international airport on Barbuda. The Barbudians had to use legal means to stop him. An international
    Airport isn’t cheap so why couldn’t he take that money to rebuild Barbuda instead? Mr is ……..

  15. jamie
    January 8, 2019

    Browne get your facts straight,For the past 30 years and more Dominica’s population has never reached 80 thousand.

  16. AntiguaNewsOnline
    January 8, 2019

    Was this reported in Antigua and Barbuda DNO?

    ADMIN: It was taken from a Pointe FM radio station broadcast as stated in the article.

  17. Shaka Zulu
    January 8, 2019

    LMFAO. So Browne is comparing Dominica to Barbuda. That is toooooooo funny. Sounds like Browne trying to do someone a lil favour. Its a shame when our country the 3rd largest English speaking island in the Caribbean by area is compared to barbuda, a territory of Antigua. Lets do at least Ivan in Grenada and the one that affected st. Lucia back sime years to be fear. Why would Browne highlight his failures? He seems to want to distance himself. Afterall he is the PM of Barbuda. SMFH

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