Full response of Opposition Leader Lennox Linton to National Budget

INTRODUCTION

Madame Speaker, colleague Parliamentarians, fellow citizens of Dominica, on behalf of the leadership and members of the United Workers Party TEAM Dominica – the Parliamentary Opposition of Dominica – I rise in response to the 2016/2017 Budget Statement of the Dominica Labour Party Government delivered by the Minister of Finance less than 24 hours ago on July 26th, 2016.

This severe restriction on the time to respond to a budget statement prepared after months of work from a solid contingent of public officers demonstrates either massive disrespect for the seriousness of the document or exemplary faith and confidence in the research, analytical and communications competencies of the parliamentary opposition.

As this honourable house is aware, we are mourning the passing of Merle Isidore, the mother of former Opposition Leader and sitting parliamentary representative for the Salisbury constituency Hon Hector John. Our colleague is burying his mother this afternoon and we, the members of the parliamentary opposition, will be with grieving family members to support and comfort them and to pay our last respects. Accordingly, our hope and prayer is that at the conclusion of this response, members will agree to an adjournment of House until 10:00 am on Thursday July 28th, 2016.

Again this year, we respond in the sacredness of national duty to the cluelessness of an oversized, CABINOT (meaning a group of ministers incapable of doing the country’s work) proud of consistently achieving the worst economic management performance results in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union for sixteen straight years

In contrast, our mission is to develop and grow a model green economy that rewards enterprise, puts our people to work for decent wages, gives a fair chance to all and secures our place in the global trade of goods and services.

In his Budget Address this year, we find an appeal to Dominicans at home and abroad, to:

“wrap your actions and utterances in the spirit of the national flag. You harm Dominica by speaking ill of Dominica. You undermine the interest and development of this country by painting unflattering images of our beloved island nation.

“The internet can be a most useful tool in the marketing of a country. But, by the same token, it can be a highly destructive weapon in the undermining of a country’s growth and development”.

This from a leader of government who dishes out national award to the most vile and savage purveyors of hate and prejudice against Dominican patriots that this country has even known. A leader who believes he is the state and his party is the be all and end all of everything in Dominica… so, in the enlightened, increasingly democratic global environment of 2016, any criticisms of his inadequacies or failures of his party amount to a crimes against the state.

We cannot build a more resilient Dominica on a platform of lies, deception and hypocrisy where leaders are incurably hostile to legitimate questions posed to them about their accountability for good governance in the public interest.

Last year, we lamented the enduring obsession with the same old failed policies of exclusion, secrecy and petty political partisanship that have made a complete mockery of the parliamentary oversight responsibility for preparation of the national budget and the management of public finances.

The Prime Minister said and we concurred “Development… is about participation, mutual respect, love of country and hard work. It is not about participation of some. It is about the involvement of all”.

So we simply asked where then was the provision for the involvement of the parliamentary opposition at stages in the budget preparation cycle where it can meaningfully contribute to the annual revenue and expenditure planning exercise?

The answer was a deafening silence. Instead of addressing this and other critical issues raised in response to last year’s budget statement, 13 ministers of government agreed to be shut out of the budget debate by a prime minister with an apparent aversion to constructive criticism and sound improvement recommendations

And so, yet again this year we have a budget that lacks credibility because, like the budgets of the past 16 years, it is not the product of an effectively anchored, bi-partisan parliamentary mechanism to decide on and fund the growth and development priorities of Dominica. As the paramountcy of the Dominica Labour Party is being driven to supersede the authority of our nation’s highest decision making body, parliament is being asked to rubber stamp approval of a budget that is not designed to (and therefore cannot) serve as a tool to deliver the growth and development fundamentals of the Commonwealth of Dominica.

This budget purports to show how government will prioritize and achieve its annual and multi-annual objectives in a way that suggests it’s all about financing new and existing programmes… This is why it is so woefully short on implementing fiscal policy, and thereby impacting the economy as a whole. This is why it is so incurably inadequate in providing guidance for bringing plans and aspirations into reality.

Contrary to public expectations, this budget cannot be regarded as a contract between government and the people, showing how resources are raised and allocated for the delivery of public services. It is not clear. It is not transparent. It is not credible. It cannot command trust. And it cannot serve as a platform for accountability.

We recommended last year and we recommend again a budget formulation process that:
I. Presents budget outlook and budget strategy papers for better public understanding of the fiscal strategy driving the revenue and expenditure allocations
II. Issues Medium Term Expenditure Framework guidelines
III. Uses Sector Working Groups and Ministerial Public Expenditure reviews to bring together input from ministers, parliamentarians, public officials, the private sector, civil society organizations and private citizens
IV. Engages a Finance Committee of Parliament, the Budget Office and Sector Hearings to consider these contributions and transform them into action-oriented proposals for the betterment of Dominica.
V. Engages an Estimates or Finance Committee of Parliament to review and approve the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure
VI. Promotes trust among citizens that government, is listening to and acting on their concerns, has a plan for achieving worthwhile objectives, and will use the available resources effectively, efficiently and in a sustainable manner.

Once parliament approves the budget, allocations should be effectively implemented by the ministries and agencies of government to secure the intended development benefits. Revenue collection and spending as authorized in the budget must be subjected to proper oversight throughout the year by the Public Accounts Committee, the Audit Department, the Budget Office and line ministries as appropriate.

We must break with the tradition of pigeon-holing the Public Accounts Committee into a primary concern with audited reports on government finances and empower it to embrace the discipline of oversight in real time. Let’s keep it real. In any event reports from the Director of Audit are backlogged three to four years, which condemns the PAC to oversight of history while live revenue and expenditure performance goes unchecked.

We cannot continue the practice of silence on the implementation of budget allocations after approval by Parliament. There must be periodic budget performance reviews that allow parliament to note the trend of overall collection and spending and prepares Cabinet to reassess budget alignment with fiscal objectives and development priorities. This will mean budget execution reports, including in-year and audited year-end reports designed to yield useful improvement messages on performance and value-for-money.

In democracies around the world, the parliamentary budget oversight focus is on “Budgetary governance” – the processes, laws, structures and institutions to ensure that the budgeting system effectively meets these requirements. Here in Dominica, after 16 years of same old, same old… it is time for integrated budget formulation systems and monitoring procedures that are coherent and consistent across all levels of governance in the public interest

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommends:
• Structural fiscal reform measures to strengthen and support the budget process and its execution within fiscally sustainable parameters with a solid Public Financial Management framework.
• Fiscal responsibility legislation establishing principles of responsible fiscal management and transparency
• A fiscal rule to support fiscal sustainability and anchor the formulation of the annual budget and its execution, including a correction mechanism after deviations
• A medium-term fiscal framework to overarch the annual budget process
• A fiscal strategy statement in the annual budget, including a multi-year economic outlook and fiscal policy priorities
• Restrictions on the use of contingency warrants used to authorize unbudgeted spending, and the inclusion in the budget of a contingency reserve for unforeseen or emergency spending
• Improvement in the capital budgeting process and introduction of program and performance budgeting across government by linking budget allocations to economic and social priorities, and enacting results-based budgeting

SO the parliamentary opposition is not alone in its concerns for much needed improvements to the budget process. We hope this administration does not decide to ignore the recommendations of the IMF because those recommendations are along the lines of the improvements suggested by the parliamentary opposition.
Background

By way of background to this year’s budget, there are some very interesting disclosures in the IMF’s July 13, 2016 Article IV consultation Dominica.
We need no reminders that the Dominican economy was hit hard by tropical storm Erika in August last year. The IMF estimates that consequently output declined by 3.9 percent in 2015. In the challenge to recover and rebuild the support from friendly countries, development cooperation partners and our brothers and sisters around the world was outstanding. We thank them all and encourage them to continue to stand with use as we seek to complete the task of reconstruction

According to the IMF review, Tourism activities have largely normalized following the resumption of full operations at the main airport, other sectors will likely need more time to be fully restored.

Agricultural output and manufacturing declined sharply, as the storm affected crops and access to arable land, and prompted the closure of operations of the main industrial plant.

In addition, the protracted decline of banks’ credit to the private sector remains a drag on economic activity, underpinned by high non-performing loans.

The Budget statement confirms that in 2015/2016 agriculture took a 15.1% nose dive; tourism declined by 10.9% and construction was down 10.1%.
These downturns in the economy have been blamed on TS Erika… but miraculously, in the depressed economic circumstances of the TS Erika year, government’s revenue and expenditure performance showed significant improvement over the previous year 2014/2015.

Overall, government’s recurrent revenue increased by 91.2 million – from 362.8 million in 2014/2015 to 454 million in 2015/2016. There were increases in the taxes on goods and services and corporation taxes and revenues from the economic citizenship program jumped dramatically year-on-year from 23 million to 99 million – a whopping increase of 76 million.

Output growth is expected to remain subdued in 2016 at 1.3 percent as the economy slowly recovers from the storm and investment in reconstruction picks up. This growth, however, is largely conditional on donor grants proceeding according to expectations.

The current account is projected to deteriorate on the back of the increase in reconstruction investment, and then to gradually improve as exports of agriculture, tourism and manufacturing activities recover. The imbalances are expected to be financed primarily with external capital grants and official concessional loans. (NB: 2015/16 Grant target – 104.4 million; actual – 32 million. 2015/16 Loan target -33.1 million; actual – 15.3 million)
“Dominica has no access to international financial markets, and the space for domestic borrowing is limited. Based on these reasons, the IMF expects lower capital expenditures than projected in the budget”.

The 2015/2016 revenue/expenditure performance is weaker than the surplus of 0.8 percent of GDP suggests, as it was underpinned by the collection of tax arrears (in part transitory), higher ECP revenues (subject to uncertainty), and low capital expenditure.

Given the uncertainty regarding revenues from the economic citizenship program (ECP) and the implementation risk of the remaining reforms, the IMF suggested that any unanticipated revenue windfalls should be allocated to public debt reduction and to build fiscal buffers.

The IMF wants to see reform measures to strengthen and support the budget process and its execution, including systems to improve public financial management, and improving the transparency of the ECP.

Some progress was made in strengthening the financial sector, but high levels of non-performing loans and low capitalization across the financial industry pose risks to financial stability.

Growing the economy requires higher private sector participation and improving the business environment. In this regard Dominica must continue to pursue structural reforms that facilitate an efficient operation of markets. In particular, reforms to boost external competitiveness, including in the areas of labor markets, export diversification, access to finance, and energy costs.

In the past 16 years the Dominican economy has suffered from a chronic lack of economic policy leadership resulting in low and declining growth, rising unemployment, and increasing poverty.

Characteristically, in today’s Dominica we find: no jobs; low paying jobs; working poor people; no more savings; the unpaid monthly bills are piling up; land, houses, vehicles and appliances are being repossessed; the days on hungry bellies continues to increase; no money for school fees and school books and school clothes; in many cases no options left but to sacrifice dignity as a beggar at the mercy of a government minister.

The economy is in shambles and we are witnessing the consequent social ills particularly among the youth where unemployment is the most acute. This also translates to a growing segment of the population requiring government assistance and the provision of a ‘social safety net’.
(Tell the story of Dominica in 2001/2002. Manufacturing, bananas, non banana agriculture, cruise tourism… the St Kitts example)

ECONOMIC CITIZENSHIP
Government has now shifted its main revenue focus from taxes to the sale of citizenship. Next month, Dominica will celebrate the silver jubilee of economic citizenship – 25 years – 17 of those 25 years under the Dominica Labour Party and 13 of those years of economic citizenship under the watch of the current prime minister and minister of finance. 12 of the first 25 years of economic citizenship in Dominica were shared by 4 prime ministers; in the last 13 years, one single prime minister has been in charge

Throughout that period, Dominica has seen a steady growth in the number of citizens but no real investment in economic activity to secure sustainable jobs and national income. There has been no transparency, no accountability… and no idea how much money Dominica was raising from the sale of citizenship until this year’s budget. Of course, other OECS countries in the citizenship business like St Kitts and Antigua for example, who came into the arena after Dominica have been reporting fully on their ECP revenue and expenditure performance. Added to that, there has been growing pressure on the government to account to the people. Nonetheless, the numbers disclosed give cause for grave concern.

Two years ago, 2014/2015, Dominica picked up $23 million dollars from economic citizenship – a shortfall of $55 million on the budget of 80 million. There was no explanation for this massive shortfall in economic citizenship revenue. Yet, the 2015/2016 estimate of NON-TAX revenues from economic citizenship went up to $70 million even though it was only $23 million in the previous year. One year later, government reports ECP revenues of $99 million – 76 million above the prior year and 29 million above budget. Remarkably though, the actual amount received from economic citizenship in 2015/2016 was 279.8 million.

What this all means is that the economic citizenship revenue of the Commonwealth of Dominica was under reported by 180.8 million in the official estimates that this parliament is now been asked to approve.

How much did government under report in the election year when it registered only 23 million in ECP revenues?

Section 76 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica states as follows:

“All revenues or other moneys raised or received by Dominica (not being revenues or other moneys that are payable, by or under any law for the time being in force in Dominica, into some other fund established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and from a Consolidated Fund”.

After under reporting the 2015/2016 ECP revenue by 180.9 million, government has withheld 146.8 million of 2015/2016 ECP revenue from the consolidated fund, in our view, in violation of the Constitution.

The public has a right to know the legal authority under which money raised or received by Dominica is kept out of the Consolidated Fund at the fancy and whim of government functionaries.

Keep in mind, 201.8 million dollars or 35.5 percent of government’s revenue in 2016/2017 is budgeted to come from the citizenship by investment program. This is the largest single revenue item on the government’s books moving aggressively up from only 6.3 percent of total revenue in 2014/2015. Are these ECP projections credible? Or do we trust the 2016/2017 numbers because we already have an unreported 146.8 million in the bag?

171 million from the projected ECP revenues in 2016/2017 is included in a capital projects funding package of 313.3 million. The IMF notes, however, that the fiscal outlook is “highly sensitive to the performance of grant financing and ECP revenues, which are inherently uncertain and subject to a sudden stop”.

A Budget cannot be successfully put together and implemented by persons proud to be operating without the discipline of playing by the rules. No law seems to constrain them and no Constitution can tell them what to do either. We are here to set the example of upholding the constitutional rule of law in the words and deeds that discharge our parliamentary responsibility for oversight of the budget cycle in the interest of a better Dominica. It’s about being accountable for doing the right thing according to the constitution and the rule of law. If we don’t, where will the poor people of this country yearning for better days find credibility in a budget management process deprived of its moral compass?

The record revenues from CIP mean that we are adding over 2000 people per year to the population. The Brexit vote came largely from people concerned with the influx of non British persons into Britain and what that means for the quality of British citizenship that the government could continue to afford. (expand)

FIGHTING MONEY LAUNDERING & THE FINANCING OF TERRORISM
Dominica is advised by the IMF to press ahead with efforts to improve financial regulation and supervision, and further strengthen AML/CFT legislation.

WHAT IS OUR RECORD ON THESE CRITICAL GLOBAL ISSUES?
We pass AML Legislation under FATF pressure to comply. Then we pay Lip service instead of taking action especially when the complaints involved people who know people who know people… (expand)

CFT – sale of diplomatic passports and diplomatic immunity to questionable characters around the world. LapSeng, Corallo, Madueke… (expand)

One month after the Budget presentation of 2015, the Prime Minister was in Macau cutting cake and celebrating with former Antiguan Ambassador John Ashe who died while awaiting trial on bribery charges; former Dominican Republic Ambassador Francis Lorenzo awaiting trial on bribery and money laundering charges and NG LapSeng himself, similarly accused and also awaiting trial in a US court.

Then we had the disclosures in the Panama Papers, legal records about politicians, criminals and the rogue industry that hides their cash… Names of Dominican individuals and companies in those Panama Papers following revelations from the records of Revenue Britain that some of those individuals were fronting for multi-million dollar offshore companies

The government of Dominica from an address in Paris is listed in the Panama Papers as a shareholder of a company in which the government secured its 51% interest in a BVI court case in 2009

THE ECONOMIC TIMES OF INDIA, December 2015: “Dawood Ibrahim, the Mumbai gang leader, who fled India in 1986, has also been identified as the mastermind behind the serial bomb blasts in India’s commercial capital in 1993 that killed at least 257. Since then he’s lived in Dubai and Pakistan as a fugitive, while maintaining his grip on organized crime in Mumbai and expanding into other areas … Dawood has at least a dozen aliases with passports from India, Dubai and Pakistan. Indian agencies said he’s also acquired a passport of the Commonwealth of Dominica, a Caribbean island, issued under its Economic Citizenship Programme”.

DERISKING
After making a big song and dance about ECP as its new major source of revenue, the Government makes passing mention of De risking almost dismissive of the fact that the hundreds of millions to come from the CIP are under direct threat from De Risking. If the National Budget so heavily relies on the CIP which comes through the global financial network….the government ought to be in a leading role in the CARICOM lobby for a solution. Are we going to wait for next year for the government to report that it was not their fault that they couldn’t do what they wanted to do because of De risking??

The Budget Statement reveals:

“Global banks have either terminated or threatened to terminate their correspondent banking relationships with some local banks in the region… from a survey undertaken by the World Bank, the Caribbean has been identified as one of the geographic regions likely to be seriously affected. It has very little to do with the actions or inactions of Governments but has to do with the decision taken by the larger banks. Correspondent banking relationships are critical for enabling key financial and economic transactions and the loss of these relationships will have a serious economic impact.

“CARICOM has devised a strategy and we are actively engaged in discussions to seek to address this ongoing matter”.

CARICOM? OK. CARICOM has the Barbados dollar, the Barbados Central Bank; the Trinidad and Tobago Dollar, the Trinidad and Tobago Central Bank; the Guyana Dollar, The Guyana Central Bank; The Jamaica Dollar, the Jamaica Central Bank; the Belize Dollar, the Belize Central Bank… Dominica is part of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union. We have the EC dollar and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank operating under the supervision of the Monetary Council on which the presenter of the Budget has sat for the past 13 years. What is the plan to safeguard Dominica and other EC dollar jurisdictions from De risking?

We have come to this parliament and passed harmonized ECCU banking legislation to encourage indigenous banks to merge into a single entity in order to maintain correspondent banking status with US banks. We have rushed harmonized asset management corporation legislation through this house to deal with non performing loans and put our banks in a better competitive position… and with the threat of derisking we defer to CARICOM?

The reality is, the level of compliance required to satisfy the AML and CFT demands of the global banking industry is too expensive for any single bank in the ECCU. Shouldn’t the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank set up an appropriate compliance department that handles AML and CFT compliance for all these banks?

And where is the ECCU initiative to partner with the US manufacturers and suppliers of goods and services to the region; the cruise lines that do multi-million US dollar business in the region; and US legislators who understand the value of US-Caribbean trading relations to lobby the US authorities to ease up on the fines and penalties for AML and CFT transgressions from this area that have heightened the risk of handling our money?

One major US Bank has already debanked Venezuela… due diligence efforts would naturally have that bank keeping its AML/CFT compliance eyes on the friends of and apologists of the Venezuelan regime. We need to be careful. We claim for example that based on some fancy arrangement with the regime, we do not owe Venezuela any money under Petro Caribe. Yet the IMF has reclassified our Petro Caribe debt to 9% of GDP… these are red flag raisers.

This is not something we can just casually leave for others as though the rest of the world is once again being unfair to small island states… The reality is JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America for example risk being fined millions of dollars (as a percentage of their market capitalization) per AML/CFT compliance failure on transactions they handle on our behalf. They don’t need our risky transactions. But we need their facilitation of our US dollar transactions. We must clean up our act. We must be more selective about the sources of the money we handle and the people we facilitate to move around the world. To protect our people from not being able to receive remittances from their family members in the disapora through money gram and western union, we must act fast and act smart. We must be an active, enthusiastic part of the solution

• Of the 313M in capital expenditure for the year over 171M effectively will be financed from the CIP. Given the government record of not including local tradesmen and engineers in its prequalification criteria, how much of the passport money will trickle down to the ordinary man who needs it. Post Erica and all!!

• The NEP continues to be a cost item on the government recurrent expenditure. When will the 1344 persons receiving mentorship/training/employment exposure be ready to enter the private sector market. The process is to create an opportunity for new entrants in the market to receive government sponsored mentorship so that they can go out and brave the world. Without a clear pathway for exit out of the program, incentives to create their own business or a vibrant and expanding private sector to absorb them, the program becomes just an added cost to the government at a time when civil servants are receiving 0,0,0 percent increases in pay while prices keep risings.

• The 50% increase in seniors allowance to be funded by CIP is inadequate and should be at the very least 100% CIP revenues which grew by 330% from 2014/2015 to 2015/2016… if the numbers are achieved in this fiscal year the growth over two years will be 778%. What about the minimum wage? What about the working poor? Especially in these days of record breaking CIP revenues, the minimum wage in Dominica should be no less than 1,000 dollars per month. And we need a national health insurance program for all Dominicans – those who can afford and those who are unable to afford

• The Geothermal Development Bill is late in coming after the government has spent 10’s of Millions on Geothermal, this budget now speaks of receiving expertise in the field and seeking to provide a legal architecture for the Development. The opposition was blistered by the Government when it called for a proper legal and accountable structure for this project that encompassed the needs and wellbeing of persons most affected by the exploration. Now in this budget the Government seeks to pat its back in doing what we said they should have done. Bravo!! Too little too late….where is the accountability for the millions spent to date?

• The National Abattoir is a disaster in its planning and execution. This program works on volume that reduces the cost per bird to be competitive with imports. The government built a building because they got it free. But their lack of understanding of managing capital projects such as these makes the output uncompetitive. There needs to be a value proposition to ensure inputs into the abattoir. The budget is silent on how farmers will be encouraged to enter into live stock. What technical assistance will be available, what areas will be highlighted for chickens pigs etc. What transportation modalities will be there for movement of live stock pre and post slaughter. The cost of feeds need to be addressed. The creation of hatcheries need to addressed. Animal husbandry needs to be addressed. All we see in this budget is we must buy local. There needs to be more substance for this project to be beneficial.

The unfulfilled promises of the 2014/2015 budget remain boggling:

In housing, we heard of the commencement of construction of 1,500 houses. To date the DLP administration CANNOT Do it.

There was supposed to be improvement work at the Portsmouth and Marigot hospitals and the commencement of the long awaited state of the art national hospital. To date, the DLP administration CANNOT Do it.

There was a plan to start actual construction work on the Roseau River Promenade. To date, the DLP administration CANNOT Do it.

Construction of an indoor sporting facility at Stock Farm was included in the list of projects planned for the 2014/2015 budget year. To date, the DLP administration CANNOT Do it.

The 2014/2015 budget also highlighted initiatives grow the economy that would see the light of day before June 30th, 2015

As has been the case for the last 4 years, we were promised a vessel to transport people and goods cheaply between the islands. To date, the DLP Administration CANNOT Do it.

The more than three year old promise that the Coffee Processing Plant at One-Mile would begin processing coffee was made again for the 2014/2015 budget year. To date, the DLP administration CANNOT Do it.

There was a commitment to complete the Morocco funded Cabrits Hotel and Spa on which construction commenced four years ago. To date, the DLP administration CANNOT DO it.

There was an expectation influenced by statements in the 2014/2015 budget that ongoing discussions about a passport money funded Kempinski Hotel in the Cabrits and hotel in the public works location would give way to concrete action to bring both into reality. To date, the DLP administration is struggling to do it. We hear now that construction commenced in January – seven months ago and the facility will be completed within 18 months (expand)

The 2014/2015 budget statement asked us to expect a geothermal development agreement with a French Consortium in October 2014 on the way to bringing the domestic plant on stream. To date, the DLP administration CANNOT Do it. A new story has emerged in this year’s budget presentation.

We even had a commitment in 2014/2015 budget statement that “…work will commence on the road aspect of the Roseau Enhancement Project focusing on the roads in the vicinity of the Dame Eugenia Charles Boulevard”. To date, the DLP administration CANNOT Do it.

ELDERLY CARE

For wellness, preservation of dignity and the continuing pursuit of happiness

It is the responsibility of government of the people, by the people, for the people to pay attention to continuous improvement in the living conditions of all citizens especially our seniors. In this regard, we must protect the spending money of our retired citizens by significantly reducing the VAT on food and utilities. Additionally, incomes must be reviewed regularly, starting in this budget year, to ensure that they are able to cope with cost of living increases.

UWP TEAM Dominica recommends establishment of 4 Senior Care Centers over the next five years, each with the capacity to accommodate up to 100 residents, in strategic locations around the country. The Senior Care Centers will provide food, clothing, shelter, medical attention, nursing care, companionship and Social Interaction for our senior citizens ordinarily condemned by circumstances beyond their control to lives of isolation and aloneness.

In partnership with Non-Governmental Organizations and charitable institutions dedicated to 1st class care for elderly citizens, government must utilize emerging best practices at home and abroad to develop standardized facilities that meet and exceed the requirements of our seniors in safe, clean, properly maintained and efficiently managed care centers. Each Center will have an outreach program comprising specially trained elderly care professionals dedicated to providing care as needed (especially at night and on weekends) for seniors living alone or living with family members, relatives or friends.

Residence in the Senior Care Centers and service from the outreach facility will be based solely on merit with priority going to those most in need based on assessments by the welfare professionals of the state.

This elderly care model will allow for easier ownership, sponsorship and participation by civil society. It will also give youth and children, through visits with our seniors as part of their family life curriculum, the opportunity to learn valuable history and cultural lessons that drive successful living. The self esteem the elderly will derive from sharing their experience, knowledge and wisdom will help preserve their dignity and add value to their continuing pursuit of happiness.

MARIGOT CONSTITUENCY

In the constituency of Marigot our vision is to become a self sufficient, full employment eco city with modern education, health, sporting, and recreational facilities; a road network that effectively connects the residential, commercial, agricultural, tourist and recreational areas; 1st world water and sanitation services; 100% energy requirements from wind and solar; and a minimum 4G platform for world class ICT functionality

For well over a decade, the people of Marigot have been expecting to see adequate resources budgeted for the road network, housing, health and village economy priorities for one of the most progressive and productive communities in this country. A better Marigot means a better Dominica… a politically victimized Marigot means a Dominica operating below its capability for outstanding sustainable growth and development

In the budget response last year we noted that the budget approved by this parliament for the fiscal year 2014/2015 included an amount of 1.9 million dollars thousand dollars to be spent on the rehabilitation of the Marigot Hospital – the health care facility closest to the National airport. Not one cent was spent. Then we saw a promise to build a New Hospital at Marigot at the cost of one million dollars of which 10% would be spent in 2015/2016. The Marigot Hospital needs at least $3 million dollars just to rehabilitate the existing facility. So one million dollars cannot build a new state-of-the-art hospital for Marigot which will cost in excess of $15 million. SO what hospital is planned for Marigot and when will it be delivered? While only $100 thousand will be spent on the Marigot hospital this year, $1 million will be spent on the Vielle Case health centre. The politics of injustice and discrimination in the allocation of public resources continues undisturbed.

In this year’s budget statement, the Prime Minister has a 14 word announcement:

“During this financial year as well, designs for the Marigot hospital will be formulated”

Some years ago, citizens with long-standing interests in land in the housing area at Melville Hall were promised that land reserved for them by the Housing Division would be officially allocated. This has not happened. As a result, persons willing to build are unable to do so and in some instances allocations agreed to are being compromised by intervening arrangements. Again, we are asking the government and the minister responsible to give urgent attention to what has become a particularly vexing matter. A number of persons in the constituency, like Myrose Abraham at Concord, remain anxious about a housing revolution intervention to address their deplorable housing conditions

The playing field at Concord needs urgent attention. And the excellent sporting facility at Lio Park regrettably abandoned by the government is in desperate need of rehabilitation

There is also the long-standing promise to rehabilitate the vital Cayam Bouc/Sunderley Road at the back of the Melville Hall Airport. It is not specifically mentioned in the capital project allocations for this fiscal year, but we expect that the financing requirements are fully catered for under the Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM) feeder road program.

We need budgeted resources to rehabilitate a number of other feeder roads:

Baron/Tantan road
Captain Bruce/Windy lodge road
Myshall road, Craig road
Coffee road, Tantan/pagua link road

We also need budgeted resources to bring a number of village roads up to acceptable standards:
Fine Grass, Bull Hole, six acres Melville Hall link road
Valley road, North End road, Overgutter Road
We need to fix the Dam bridge and we need Speed bumps for the highway passing through Concord

CONCLUSION

For the second straight year, our case for early involvement of the Parliamentary opposition in the preparation of the annual budget is made by the number of worthwhile recommendation once again this year from our team of original thinkers and strategic planners passionate about implementation. The ideas and proposals in this response merited consideration at the stage of fiscal strategy formulation prior to the preparation of the estimates of revenue and expenditure so that they could be costed, revised if necessary and integrated into the budget as appropriate. At this eleventh hour, we are condemned to making recommendations in competition with government’s proposals that may already be cast in stone and will not be changed at any cost in the interest of partisan political correctness.
Again this year, I close with the final stanza of our National Anthem:

Come ye forward, sons and daughters
Of this gem beyond compare
Strive for honour sons and daughters
do the right be firm be fair
toil with hearts and hands and voices
we must prosper, sound the call
in which everyone rejoices
all for each ad each for all
Thank you Madame Speaker… May our ancestors be pleased… All praise to our redeeming Lord… We love you Dominica… God bless you.