Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Johnson Drigo, is of the view that a new piece of legislation enacted to extract 15 acres of land from the Cabrits National Park in the northern end of the island has the capacity to secure hundreds of jobs for nationals.
When the first sitting of the Ninth Parliament ended on Friday, the Bill for an act to amend the National Parks and Protected Areas Act, Chapter 42:02 received the support of the majority and has now been ratified.
The Bill is expected to facilitate the construction of a luxury hotel in the area.
Drigo said a hotel being constructed will create hundreds of jobs for Dominicans.
“As you know in the manifesto of the Dominica Labour Party, the expansion of the Tourism sector was very clearly articulated,” he noted. “One of the key projects is a hotel by Range Capital Dominica Ltd to construct a 101 hotel, bedroom facility at an investment cost of well over US$100-million. So we can expect in quick time to see a major investment in the Portsmouth area which will redound in employment, construction employment in the first phase for thousands of persons from the north and around Dominica and further down the line, sustainable jobs in the hotel sector for well over 500 persons from the Portsmouth area and Dominica in general.”
However, not all parliamentarians were thrilled with the idea of encroaching on protected lands.
Opposition Senator, Isaac Baptiste of the United Workers Party (UWP), argued that the said area is a national park and a marine resource and “must be protected.”
“[It] is not good policy, it’s upside down planning,” he noted.
The Senator stated that he recognizes the right of government to introduce, enact, amend and repeal legislation, “but this legislation, this measure, must be taken in the public’s interest.”
“What is now being proposed is taking state property, important property that has protected the resources of our country and giving it to private interests. This cannot be good policy. It cannot be good development policy, in no way,” Baptiste stated.
But Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, who also addressed the matter in parliament, stated that hotels or lodges have been built in national parks around the world.
He named several examples such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks in the United States of America as well as the Waterton Lake National Park in Canada.
“There are hundreds of national parks across the world where are hotels, lodges, there are people bathing, eating, working in those hotels where the people recognize that nature, the environment can co-exist with development,” Skerrit said. “A national Park is not something that one should not be able to use and to generate economic activity from.”
The contract to construct the hotel was signed in November last year.
The agreement was signed between the government of Dominica, Range Capital Partners LTD and the Kempinski Group.
I am against this one. Why cant they build somewhere else on the island? There is plenty of land to do so. Why The Cabrits National Park?
On another point, once the land is sold it no longer belongs to the people of Dominica, and the company posing as a development company disbands and the land is given away to the PM and his friends. No jobs for Dominicans , no hotel, only a lost of our national Park. Once again I ask for the names of the buyers of the land. In a democracy the people hould know who is gettng the land.
The people of Dominica need to know who are the people on the Board of the company the land is being given too. Who will be owning that hotel? The Parks the government named in america are all state owned. The land is leased to the developers, as this is state land belonging to the people, much discussion should have taken place with the people not the PM just with a stroke of his pen giving away our national treasure to his friends. DNO please do not cchose to delete my post this is a serious situation a crime against the people.
I would also like to add that before the Grand Canyon was opened there was much discussion with the population there were those who wanted to develope it as the pm is saying but no the people won and it was developed as a National park instead. o if we are going to copy America, Canada and other develop countries, let us copythe good, in a democrac this sort of project should be discussed publicly before the decision is taken to sell away our national park.,
Mr. Drigo, Where is the Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) report as regards the hotel project. If your government is going to take action on our behalf don’t you think it is proper and plain commonsense to let us the public have access to an EIA so that we can make in informed decision on this. Please publish the EIA before proceeding. Can you do that or are you afraid of your boss? Prove that it is not the latter.
Let me try to put some context to this issue, if I may.
“But Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, who also addressed the matter in parliament, stated that hotels or lodges have been built in national parks around the world. He named several examples such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks in the United States of America as well as the Waterton Lake National Park in Canada.”
BUT Mr. Prime Minister:
Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 square miles (2,221,766 acres); the Grand Canyon National Park – 1904 sq miles (1,217,262 acres); Waterton Lake National Park, Canada – 54 square miles (124,788 acres); Cabritts National Park, Dominica – 2 square miles (1,313 acres).
In other words, Mr. Prime Minister, Yellowstone is more than 10 times the size of our entire country Dominica, far less Cabritts! Do the rest of the Math. Therefore OF COURSE they can build all of these amenities without affecting the Park! GO FIGURE!
They come to steal, kill, and destroy….. steal our country money, kill the economy and destroy national pride… they are well on their way.. but u know the sad part… our voters put them there…. listen.. if i want to marry should i just pic up any old goat and marry him or her?…if i am thirsty should i just pick water from any old dirty old stream or cup or container and drink….. if i have a headache should i just take any medication… job creation does not mean destruction and loss… that is why we need educated, mature, thinking people in our little Dominica administration.. these little boys are just a mess.. all those who are looking on from the outside can see it… its just that those on the inside are blinded by bs and cannot see the light…… but i pray that sooner than later their eyes will open and the veil will be taken away….. My God bless Dominica
Putting aside the shameful disregard for the sovereignty of national parks (the original Act was intended to prevent exactly this kind of thing from happening), are Dominicans really content with short-term building site and long-term toilet-cleaning jobs ? Really ? That’s all you want in life ?
Democracy 101: Nothing about the people
Not involving the people
Is for the people.
Do you think such madness could be done in Costa Rica without extensive stakeholder consultation and environmental assessment? We keep developing and planning – we should be planning and developing.
Why do we call ourselves Nature Isle anyway
All these jobs creations sounds great but is there a demand from tourists wanting to visit on long duration’s of stay to have such a facility in Portsmouth? If you cant keep such an establishment filled with tourist at all times then he cant maintain the employment quantity as promised.Then you just have buildings with no turnovers Spoiling the beauty of the site.
DNO, why does the truth hurt you more than anyone else? the election is over!
y them man doh go and look for money to help d farmers bring back bananas in dominica that will b better then dos pacet hotel they billding u have to take two air line to come in to dominica people not coming to dominica just for d sak of that
beg mister them beging man them man looking like is cry the crying for somting it look like them bloks looking to put dominica in more det Dominican doh no of
Mr. Drido, can you please clear the air here because I am confused. On Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 2:28, DNO posted this article: “Ground breaking for northern Coast Guard Base, new vessels commissioned.” Here is a quote from the article: “The first was the ground breaking ceremony at a 1.77 acre site at Bell Hall for the construction of a Coast Guard base.” DNO also posted the picture of, “PM Skerrit (right) and Ambassador Palmer at the ground breaking ceremony. Sir, I know the area very well and there is no way one can extract 15 acres of land from the Cabrits National Park without taking the 1.77 acre site at Bell Hall for the construction of a Coast Guard base. Am I to conclude that the Coast Guard base is now a thing of the past? If yes, did Skerrit return the US $1.7 million grant to the US? If not, US will not forget it.
What about this one: Construction of Cabrits Hotel Resort and Spa takes off
DNO’s – Monday, October 3rd, 2011. Two hotels in the same place? Wow!
It is said the money for the coastguard is in the bank
I am not so much concerned about whether or not we should or should not build at the said location- I am most concerned and disgusted by the procurement method employed by a corrupt Prime Minister. Somebody should show us the evidence that the continuous and wanton selling of our passports and the dishing out of our prime locations to foreign interest have actually created jobs for the people of Dominica and that Dominica is better for it.
I would also lie to be confirmation that more promised hotels is actually an absolute requirement even when our existing hotels are struggling. I would certainly like to hear from Gregor and or Ivor Nassief. Now this is the same government who sat by and watched the aerial tram operation disappear with over 60 jobs. It is under the same government that other hotels shut their doors without an offer from the government. Did the government not offer to help because the businesses were not viable and why is it now viable to provide the resources…
We have two unfinished hotel projects that promised hundreds of jobs”Both backed by the goverment.No explanation or reason for. The non completion?
Jungle Bay,Secret Bat private developments all completed and we are told doing well.
This latest Promised development should be under strict environmental standards.Eco friendly and blended in to the Cabtis.Anything less is not acceptable and only the Goverment has the power to enforce this.Please accept your Duty to enforce.
tell joseph go where he come out an talk not portsmouth,,u know how we ptsmh pple wants that swamp developped,,our dream is to see a marina in dat swamp,,our yauchting suffers from mosquitto,the afterdark beach events is misery,,uwp doing the same ting oppose development but they want the same people to vote dem,,keep opposing,,dominican like to get tings an see tings happen,sorry for uwp,,keep opposing development,,
Why can’t Dominica attract an internationally-branded hotel instead of these ill-conceived hotel projects? It should be noted that earthquake-ravaged and impoverished Haiti has just opened a second internationally-branded hotel on Tuesday in the capital Port au Prince. The 175 room Marriot Port au Prince geared towards business travelers was developed by Digicel the telecoms company – Digicel invested US$45million and contracted Marriot to manage the hotel. In March of 2013, Best Western opened in the Petionville district of the capital. Last year, Hilton International announced it would open a hotel in Haiti in 2016. Meanwhile Dominica is continuing to lag behind with a series poorly planned and fatally-flawed hotel projects i.e. Layou River Hotel, Atlantique View and the Moroccan Hotel.
Roosevelt, your argument for the construction of hotel within the cabrits space is fallacious. To compare the the ecology of our terrestrial and marine life to that of US and Canada, clearly shows how messed up your thinking can be- lets leave it at that
I cannot believe what I am reading! In order to accommodate a tourism project we have to situate it a national park. Is there no other land in Dominica with beach access? I am speechless!
There is already a half finished hotel near the Cabrits. What is happening to that? Why has that project not been completed? This government is just totally clueless – start one hotel, don’t finish it, then start another hotel under the pretence of 500 jobs. Why do we let this government get away with all this nonsense? We need to hold them accountable. This can not continue!!!
The opportunity coat for development is environmental destruction and pollution. Tell me how many big cities, or economic world powers you can see with as much vegetation as Dominica? Has it ever crossed your minds: why the Amazon is not developing??? lol. We have to decide what we want in Dominica: its is either the development, or the trees. These two don’t co-exist. And when they do, the forest is called a “liesure park,” like the Botanical gardens.
Opportunity cost*
What was the difference between the failed project by the German company/contractor/one man show which tried to build the Hotel a couple decades ago? Was that or Is that protected land? What about the private establishment that is on the said protected grounds? An environmentally sound/eco-friendly building could enhance the appeal of the National Park. Is that one of the reasons why the cruise ship birth being neglected? It is on protected land and will affect Marine life?
Just a few questions?
One Love Dominicans and May God Continue to Bless the Commonwealth of Dominica!!!!
What I cannot understand is that the Labor party government has built a hotel at Layou River using our passports sales which have failed, they moved onto a coffee factory which is sitting at Portsmouth for the past six months, empty, another failure. They started building a morocco hotel 4 years ago, the project have stalled for over 2 years to date, another failure. There is a cruise ship terminal at the Cabrits national park and a Warf that is desperately in need of repairs and upgrade. Also the park itself needs to be thoroughly taken care of including proper garbage disposal.
The morocco hotel is totally incomplete, it needs a proper beach front, so sand has to be dredge from the sea to make a beach, a Warf has to be built and a road constructed to give access to Cabrits, then the hotel has to be furnished, and the biggest hurdle is to fill the 50 rooms.
Labor party starts another white elephant on the opposite side of the morocco failure. End of days for Cabrits national…
The Layou River Hotel was a Freedom Party project that lasted well into the Original UWP administration after expenditures in excess of US 55 million. The project came to a halt when Grace Tung ( representative of the owners) cited N H International, the contractor for sub-par construction (that could not be proven).
So Winston, what is stopping Roosevelt Skerrit to offer the Layou hotel site and develop that instead? After all, did the court in the BVI not confirm that we own 51% of that company? I believe it was Lucy Ma, who wrote the letter to him confirming that. I t is in the court’s records, look it up. That would kill two birds with one stone and cause no outcry like the Cabrits.
See what Black people, thinking they have all the “power, are doing to their fellow brothers and sisters.
It is criminal to grab land from the Cabrits National Park, 15 acres of our land, ,and hand over, just like that, in-our- faces, by a deceitful ACT of Parliament. Our land was passed over to the children of Walashiwala, Bala, Congoree, freedom fighters, who fought relentlessly against their colonial Masters, who oppressed, enslaved, killed, stole their land from them.
Black men and women in 2015, engage in selling off, giving off our land ? Hotel? Jobs my foot. How many jobs in Layou River Hotel? Passport sell, oui? Millions amassed. No Hotel.
Land Free for foreigner. Our passports selling to fund hotel for foreigner. Hotel not ours. PWC area, now Chinese Land, another twaka. Dominica selling cheap. A people drowning in Madness, scams too bamboozled, too enslaved to notice. Whose fools are we?
Planting Marijuana may create jobs and bring money as well. However, how much will the effects and damage cost? You guys are destroying Dominica bro and shame on those educated fools that are sitting there doing nothing while you all continue to do Havoc. It will not be long until both the DLP and those greedy Dominicans will start to pay for their destruction of Dominica.
1.We have a hotel that started around the St. Joseph area (Layou park)) about 25 years now and I am not seeing any signs of completion, let alone job creation. However, foreigners became millionaires from that failed project.
2. Skerrit began construction of a hotel (Morocan hotel) about 7 years ago and the only torists I have seen in it are MOSQUITOES. It is there and I do not know what witch peepee that fell on it that preventing it from opening so it could create the employment they said it would create. Again, it was built by foreigners and no one knows the deal.
3. You fooled me once, my bad. you FOOLED me twice your bad. You fooled me three times, our bad. You FOOLED me 4 times, then you have concluded that we are a bunch of IDIOTS!
but labour party just put 700 peoples job on hold in the local government sector now they sayign about creating jobs?
Sustainable Development is the name of the game. The Jungle Bay in Dominica, the Thailand experiment , the Woodlands in Texas, urban settlements in Colorado to name a few are examples to demonstrate that man and nature can live in community.
The question to be asked is what guarantees do we have to ensure that the environment will be protected. Who is charged with supervisory responsibility for this protection.
In the examples that the Hon P M quoted, there are government and private sector and even volunteer agencies policing those areas to ensure protection of the environment and the species.
Questions:
1. What is the CURRENT status of the other hotel, which is at the base of the national park?
2. Has an EIA been conducted? (THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED PRIOR TO SIGN ANY AGREEMENT FOR SUCH DEVELOPMENT IN THIS AREA)
3. What are the environmental impact that might be experienced because of this development?
4. Why a luxury hotel, in a nature/heritage national park?
5. Why not an eco-lodge to attempt smooth transition into the natural habitat of nature/heritage national park?
DOES THE GOVERNMENT HAVE ANY IDEA AS TO WHAT THEY ARE DOING???????
DO THEY HAVE ANY IDEA CONCERNING TOURISM PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT AND MATCHING PRODUCT OFFERINGS TO NATIONAL TOURISM TARGET MARKETS????????
THIS GOVERNMENT IS LOST!!!!! THEY ARE ACCEPTING EVERY LIL HANDOUT GIVEN, WITHOUT HAVING THE SLIGHTEST IDEA AS TO HOW THESE SO CALL DEVELOPMENT WILL IMPACT ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENT OF THIS COUNTRY.
We have that talk many times before, Drigo, and to no effect.
Why are government pursing destabilizing our National Park in the names of jobs. It is jobs for the BOYS but certainly not jobs for Dominicans who need a job.
We are suffering from Idiocrary Governance in this country and as long as this remains we will are not be going anywhere as a country.
When will this GOVT have two hands above the table and not one to do deals in this country?
There are plenty places to put this hotel although I am not in agreement with it, as this GOVT has shown a track record of implementing GOVT control hotels as a White Elephant.
This has all the making of a white Elephant because the developer Range has no skin in the game.
1. They are not investing their capital in this delevopment…..so they have no interest in making this a success after they make their money from the sales of these passports.
skerrit what about the 3 million the u.s gave to put the coast guard base in Portsmouth…
Is so we come in DA. Well we might have to stop calling ourselves the Nature Isle.
Why can’t we have development AND protect our environment? It is a nonsense to suggest that it is a question of either/or. What is the purpose then of having a legally protected environment in the first place? Next thing we know they are going to build a Disneyland at Trois Pitons with the same argument.
PS. I understand that development is supposed to be at Bell Hall, almost next to the infamous villas in Savane Paille. A coincident, hmmm?
I totally agree with Mr Skerritt – hotels in National Parks are a good thing. Being able to stay overnight in a National Park and see and hear what it’s like in the middle of the night, at dawn etc., hugely improves the experience.
you stole my name so I will leave it for you.
Idk what is wrong with Dominicans. What is the problem with Citizen’s comment? Election time, you all want development, after election is trees you all want. smfh. IDK why Skerrit doesn’t give you guys some trees. lets see if you all will be satisfied. Open your minds. Development is not only infrastructural. If you all a begging and bawling and singing for development, you all must be ready to accept the costs that it comes with!
Go and ask the residents of Colihaut or Pont Michael or Layou if they are happy with the cost of development in their communities?? Those in charge can be very flippant but tell me how many of our Ministers live next to an asphalt plant or a quarry?? “You all” is never you all, but mostly those that have shit poured over them.
now whats wrong if skeritt gives us trees,whats wrong wth trees,,trees is life,,I hope dat ure below 20 yrs old,,haiti wish they had trees,,,
Fooling the poor people again.Keep up the good work labour,make me want tooo pook.
Please point out just one D/a government sponsored hotel that has been a success.
The Fort Young Hotel. Negotiated between J B Charles an opposition suporter and E O Leblanc, Premier of Dominica and Political Leader of the Dominica Labour Party. This was done in the early 60’s when the new Roseau police station was built. Fort Young originally housed the police station.
An other successful ventured sponsored by the Labour Party administration was the National Bank (Aid Bank).
I agree with you that the public sector, the regulators, should shy away from private sector functions, but when the private sector is dormant on developmental activities, a responsible government must lead the way.
The government is demonstrating its policy of sustainable development and commitment to the Tourist sector. It sends a clear message that it is prepared to support the private sector in similar investments. Now will take seriously its idea of building an international airport. Airport and hotels go together. So does Tourism and Agriculture, in mutual support
SMFH reall hard. What a magiiii.
Every country with right minded people in Government increasing their green and protected space. Surprise surprise the the DLP government decreasing ours in the guise of creating jobs. Really all the land that is available in Dominica the government is choosing to reduce the Cabrits National Park. Lennox Honeychurch, not surprisingly, but rather shamefully not saying one word.