Roseau, Dominica – August 28th, 2018 – The Dominica Business Forum (DBF) laments the departure of Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) from the Commonwealth of Dominica after forty years of operations on the nature isle.
The impact of Ross University School of Medicine departure is not limited to the immediate and long-term economic and social challenges brought on employees and suppliers who deliver services and goods to the University.
This situation highlights once again the urgent need for a functioning Public/Private Sector mechanism to deliberate on and address policy and administrative challenges impacting the creation and functioning of an environment which is friendly to business and investments.
The departure of Ross University will impact negatively on the ability of the Commonwealth of Dominica to attract Direct Foreign Investments and should be a wake-up call for the country to take stock and to realize that the future development of Dominica is increasingly dependent on its human and natural resources.
The hemorrhaging of the private sector, which was exasperated with the looting after Hurricane Maria, continues and will only cease with a coordinated sense of purpose which requires a united front.
DBF, therefore, calls for policymakers, leaders of political parties, leaders of business support organizations and leaders of civil society organizations to begin the dialogue that would provide strategic approaches and solutions that remove bottlenecks to investments.
The DBF reiterates the urgent need to immediately address the critical issues of air access improvement, foreign direct investment, and national security concerns that will enhance private sector investment in the Dominican society.
Meanwhile the Dominica Business Forum calls on private enterprises to support their respective business organizations such as the DAIC, DMA, DHTA, DEF, BCAD, DCSI because this is where their interests are protected.
The Dominica Business Forum Inc. also calls on the private sector to participate in the DBF consultations when convened.
The Dominica Business Forum Inc. is legally incorporated under the Companies Act of the Commonwealth of Dominica as the representative body of the aforementioned organizations.
“The departure of Ross University will impact negatively on the ability of the Commonwealth of Dominica to attract Direct Foreign Investments and should be a wake-up call for the country to take stock and to realize that the future development of Dominica is increasingly dependent on its human and natural resources.”(Article).
Such are trivial, and serves no purpose; meanwhile the real issues are not dealt with. With you people, Dominicans in general is about talking, and writing insignificant letter to people, when we submit a Resume in the United States it better not be more than one or 1.5 pages long, otherwise it will go into the trash bin!
Talk without actions yell no fruits; it does improve the infrastructure of the country. When an investor read this nonsensical crap about “Nature island” I suppose the thing which comes to mind is that Dominica is yet primitive place! Investors are not interested in coming to remove primitivism; they want to invest modern county…
Just talk, talk, talk………coming from organization with no resources, just reading this article it tells me they are bankrupt of ideas.
one incident happen and they chicken out. all I can say (good rhythm to them)
This was basically an advertisement for DBF
I even fed up read comments and suggestions. We all know better yet we do not do better because some of us have an order to uphold. No matter what the situation, we all have to find strength within ourselves to get up each morning, find nourishment, distribute our energies accordingly and ensure that we have sound and comfortable sleep. None of the above having to do with the government or any authorizing body which determines the country, or the world as a matter of fact. I pray for this country so much because when I was young, I use to look forward to growing up here. I only saw such a blessed and prosperous country however, the way we treat each other, the way we hold back on real progress and innovation, the way we turn a blind eye to blatant corruption, the silly reasons and excuses we make for incompetence and the lack of empathy from our leaders is really sad. We all know better and we have been reduced to constantly complaining with no sight of better days. God is good tho…
I guess the DBF felt obligated to say something on the exit of Ross, but this message is too late and too full of rhetoric. Most Dominicans have already begun the process of moving on to the next significant investments. Now, will the DBF stand and be counted among those who have energized their members to produce long lasting solutions to the departure or will it continue to repeat hollow statements?
You all including DBF talk a bunch of garbage. You all just want to be heard. You all make no sense at all.
Only you and Skerrit make sense. Now be a good person and crawl back under your rock.
Dominica will fulfill its greatest potential when the government, the private sector and civil society put their collective heads together and work with the best interest of the country in mend. For this to be realized, the DLP has to exit office. Why, you may ask. The longer a political party stays in power, the more corrupt and dictatorial it becomes. Skerrit and his spineless cohort of ministers have only ONE intention, which is, to hold on to power, to rust in government. They are mortally afraid to lose an election because of the multitudinous cases of corruption that will be unearthed. So, their greatest concern becomes self preservation and not empowering the people or developing the country. Only around the eleventh hour of a pending election, they are prepared to work hard to be re-elected. Do you see these ministers hitting the pavement, walking the back alleys of their communities anything? Only during an election campaign. Fire them! Not one more chance for them!
“Dominica will fulfill its greatest potential when the government, the private sector and civil society put their collective heads together and work with the best interest of the country in mend. For this to be realized, the DLP has to exit office…….” What is stopping the private sector and civil society to work in the best interest of the country? Are you saying that the premier political organization in Dominica should be exclude from the process you talk about? Based on what you are saying, will the cabinet of your new Government meet every Monday morning with the private sector and civil society to receive work instructions for the week from unelected people? Will your new government embark on a witch hunt to jail members of the DLP, based on the bogus evidence of mass in the cemetery, Rijock and the rest? Or is your new government going to spend millions of dollars to find new evidence?????????
Dominica and most of the Caribbean Islands will continue to spin their wheels in the mud and continue to have leadership of Sinking Ships until Coherent and calculated decisions are made to diversify their economies so that intellectual migration can stop and the country can grow. When people who have no strategy are put in strategic positions, it leads to country stagnation.
You sound too much like Ibo France…a whole lotta hot air that is removed from reality in Dominica; like you just read a book and you suddenly feel smart. Which country has ever and can ever stop “intellectual migration?” What is “intellectual migration” anyway?! SMFH!!
Well said, jDorn. Peeping Tom doesn’t possess the mental capacity to comprehension your comments. Revitalization and diversification of the economy is needed to prevent our brightest from going overseas seeking greener pastures. The people need to work together, pool the best ideas, as a cohesive force, in order to make Dominica the envy of the Caribbean. All the present administration has to offer are hollow promises, nepotism, cronyism, political tribalism, poverty, misery and indebtedness. Despite the sorry, dilapidated state the country is in presently, there are people, who are fed crumbs from the floor, curse those who cry foul. Sheep-like supporters of the Skerrit-led ill-administration are just victims of their own ignorance. They need enlightenment for they have lived in the shadows of DLP propaganda for much too long. Their eyes are wide open but they obstinately remain blind, ignorant and subservient.
@j Dorn, get real, the only way intellectual migration can stop is when the countries benefitting from this process makes it much less attractive for migrants.
DBF…..Before any of these activities can bear fruits the GOVT has to be removed if you are serious about your statement. That what happens in any corporation when a CEO or Boss is responsible for very serious failures for the entity.
As long as the current leadership is in GOVT we will not get a bias to long Term Foreign direct investment, proper infrastructural development, sustainable economy ,a functional healthcare system, agriculture as a business and manufacturing.
Let’s be real Dominicans. Can Dominica under the leadership of Roosvelt Skerrit even attract local investors? I mean let’s do our homework people and see how many local businesses including shops that have been closed down since Skerrit became Prime Minister and compare it to how many new ones have been opened under Skerrit. As a matter of fact we must even add the amount of banana farmers that went out of business since Skerrit. So if Skerrit CANNOT and COULD NOT attract local investors how the hell the man going to attract foreign investors? Yes if we talking about finding wanted criminals and give them a diplomatic passport to hide, then yes Dominica under Skerrit will be attractive to them but other than that, No good investor whether local, regional or international will invest in Dominica. In fact we better watch it because All Saints will soon run
I somewhat agree with the DBF that “the loss of Ross will affect Dominica’s ability to attract foreign investments” but the question is, what type of foreign investment we talking about. I mean Alireza Monfared was a damn rich foreign investor, who ran the fake My Dominica Trade house, and both Skerrit and Nanthan described him to us as a good gentleman that really wanted to help Dominica. Also, just before the departure of Ross, Skerrit informed us that investors are flocking to Dominica since Maria read here https://dominicanewsonline.com/news/homepage/news/general/pm-skerrit-says-investors-flocking-to-dominica-after-maria/. So if we talking about the Skerrit type of investors like Monfared, NG Lap Seng, the Madueke and others, then yes they are flocking and will flock to open crooked fake businesses here. But if we talking about good investors like Ross, we know for a fact that the loss of Ros will affect our ability to attract them, as long as Skerrit. He will get rid of them
But the government doesn’t want foreign investors to do business in the country anyway. Chupes
Being acronymophobic “DBF, RUSM, DAIC, DMA, DHTA, DEF, BCAD, DCSI” leaves me more acrimonious than the Ross departure adding Dr. Punjab’s modified mantra (ASEEO) All Shall Eat Each Other.
The departure of Ross is as a result of the ineptness,incompetence and laziness of one man,an empty showman.This is what the CEO of Ad Talem said referring to Barbados “”We have found a government that is biassed to getting things done to advance education and health”” ( not verbatim)..This means that Skerrit is lazy,his other MISLEADERS are lazy,and they all need to go
Skerrit Must Go
Skerrit Must Go
Lazy Skerrit Must Go Now