Vagrancy is among several “bumps” that have been adversely affecting the tourism sector that are expected to be temporarily ironed out before the new cruise season opens, Dominica’s Tourism Minister has said.
One of the most talked about is the vexing issue of vagrants being a nuisance to tourists and as a result giving a low on-land rating to the destination.
Speaking on Kairi FM’s ‘Talking Tourism’, Ian Douglas said plans are being discussed to have the situation addressed and rectified.
“Health and tourism are going meet and sit and collaborate on that … we have set ourselves a deadline by the start of the season, we want to formulate a short term plan to deal with the vagrants,” he said.
Douglas said the issue has been much talked about and is affecting Dominica’s port rating.
“It is my view that we can get some of the more premier ratings that we used to enjoy in the past and I believe that getting the vagrants out of the town area especially when a ship is in port is something that we can do,” he stated.
Douglas said he is confident that by October 1st, when the cruise season starts, the plan to address vagrancy will be ready to be implemented.
“I believe that by the start of the season, I am hopeful that we can take some short term to medium term and eventually some long term solution to deal with that problem,” he pointed out.
Meantime, Chief Executive Officer of the Discover Dominica Authority, Colin Piper, said on the same program that during the holidays, and on Sundays, when Roseau is shut down, several students from the State’s College will serve as city guides.
He also mentioned that all the relevant authorities will be expected to meet soon to discuss the cleanliness of the city, especially during the cruise season.
You guys want to clean the town of vagrants?Round up all the coke and crack dealers,put them in a certain area and tell the vagrants where the pushers are located.Free up the ganja,the smoke of the ganja will kill the stench from the gutters,JA and big cities in Europe free up Ganja for tourist and they enjoy themselves.you guys fighting your money maker,free up the Ganja.Doe let America tell you to fight it down while they freeing it up state by state.
WOW!!!! Interesting indeed. Zor Domnichen sot eh. Vagrants, homeless people are all over the world. Look in NY subways, cities for example…both large and small, there are vagrants all over. I wonder what they going to do with the vagrants when the tourists come. They need to fix the side-walks,find a way to cover those huge drains, pave the streets of Roseau nicely and fix some of the shanty town houses they have in the damn place and leave the vagrants alone. Some tourist making as if they never saw a vagrant in their life. Just visit one of the developed countries and you will see where vagrants are
Can you imagine a cruise ship passenger coming ashore in a wheelchair and having to be pushed around Roseau? Come on Mr. Prime Minister Roseau being the metropolis is in dire need of a proper facelift. Streets, gutters and sidewalks. Some other beautifying would not go amiss.
Find out who their children, sisters and brother are. Send them home. :
When I visited home last year I went to Roseau one day and chose to stay away from there because of how hot and nasty it is…No disrespect to the town people but allu really need to get some lessons from the village of Calibishie on how they keep their village so clean.there are also some other villages like Salisbury,the reserve,concord and other few who are looking like the place to be in Dominica if you want to feel the Caribbean.I spent my entire vacation in the north because it is clean,beautiful and food taste good and inexpensive.So Ian if you want to make a change in Roseau go consult with the small village council chairman to ask an advice and the best advice they will give you is the people of Roseau need to unite to clean the town instead of always waiting for the government to do it for them…Just my observation.
Well it is a much bigger urban center so of course it will be a lot harder to keep pristine looking.
seriously,some people are unbeleiveable,compareing a village cumunity to a city,and talking about abroad, well well i have seen and been places that stink more than roseau,and sometime i think instead of staying abraod and being critical of dominica knowing fully well that dominica is financialy straped,why dont these people organize,where they are and donate equipments that the roseau city council can used to keep the city clean,at least give back to land that gave them birth,be progressive and think outside the box,or outside the land because that’s where you all are,some of this places where these people are there city councils are well equiped all kinds of wash trucks and gabbage trucks state of the art dont they see that,we are not there yet,we are poor malleway,carnival christmas independant times,roseau does be a hutle and bustle like any big city,beautiful and colourfull and loving and unifying,i love dominica,i love roseau,give us a break will be alright.
Shame on you. Can’t compare the city to a rural area. How many people walk all over Calibishie daily compared to people walking in Roseau?
The city has more money and resources than a small village so it is feasible to think that they can maintain themselves. The people in power just need to make it a priority. It’s about pride. I agree with the post that claims that Roseau should take notes from Calibishie. This gov’t wants a quick fix by rounding up vagrants and putting them in the closet or on a vagrant farm until the money tourists leave. Clean up the island for the people and provide aid or a better solution to control vagrancy. Dominicans deserve no less.
Another “vote for me” election scheme. Try again. #NoPsyclogy
Mr Minister, social ills are relevant to the local population first and tourists after, not vice versa. Is it only important because it affects tourists. Issues that affect health and security and welfare are very important to the local population. Its not good enough to marginalize our people and deal with issues only when they make the news! Let us take care of ourselves first, our environment, safety and security and then we will get benefits trickling down to visitors! We have our priorities all wrong!
Ruf
This comment is to the point and unusually logical. If the negative behavior exist to be usesed among the locals and diasporas, it will migrate to the tourist industry. The government, the church and the public should act when it affects the local community and not just the tourist.
enhance the sidewalks cant belive for a capital the sidewalks are so dangerous.
Is it impossible to see a once government minister eating from a trash can? Circumstances do change. Do good to the unfortunate whiles you have the opportunity.
So getting them off the streets is doing them wrong. I can’t stand stupid people.
You kidding me???????? Students to serve as city guides???????? What happen to employing a few of the unemployed young men that are around the city and country to play as watch guards. Something is seriously wrong with these organizers. A clear way of means of creating jobs and you are talking about students who just left secondary school and at college these young teenagers are mear kids.
The vagrants may not have access to internet but they have friends and family who do and who have already tipped them off about this too-little-too late plan. You very rarely see police patrolling Roseau unless g out parking tickets so who will be rounding up the vagrants and guarding them to make sure they dont escape till all the cruise ship visitors go. Its clear that when it comes to vagrants, rubbish, smells, noise etc, neither Dominicans or stay over tourists matter. Its all about cruise ship passengers.
Ian i will not adress you as mr because you don’t deserve the title.it’s very unfortunate that you care more for port rating than you do the people of your own country.first of all vagrancy is a minor problem, the tourists are accustomed to beggars that’s universal. ian the first thing that hits a tourist when they disembark from the cruiseship outside the old post office is this ghastly stench comeing from the gutter. go and stand by the old market ian then go and stand up by jolly pharmacy then go by acs and stand up and take the stench i talking about no amount of vagrants can cause a lower port rating those are fellow humans you talking about besides these tourist you’re so concerned about come to our island for a few hours we live there,work there, and pay taxes there are they more important than us that you have to clean up for them and not for us?
get the paroes off the streets permanently! Don’t know how but I know alot of locals would prefer that solution instead…
Please include the street the stinking drains
for tourist and the all who live there as well
We all deserve the same treatment.Constructive critic only..I am not putting down my country Vagrants are all over,,but we have a problem in Da we need people to take more pride in keeping the island clean
I do hope the minister and other authorities are successful in keeping the vagrants out of Roseau during the tourist season and also at other times.
They are a menace to the Dominican population on the whole.
As for the tourists and other visitors, they should be able to enjoy the environment and shopping in peace without being harassed by beggars as we once called them.
Police presence should be prominent on the streets of Roseau especially when a tourist ship is in the harbour.
Tourists must be shielded from those vagrants. Otherwise their nuisance will make the tourists’ visit unpleasant.
It will be a relief to all Dominicans to keep those vagrants away and permanently so from the streets of Roseau.
Please correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t begging considered a crime in our constitution? Shouldn’t most of these vagrants be arrested then??
i from the b.v.i and i like down town roseau i was there in febuary it nice but it do need some clean up.i back there the end of october.
We need a long term solution that helps the poor and the homeless themselves not a short term plan to cover up the cracks during the cruise ship season. I thought you were all socialists ?
Vagrancy to be addressed again? oh no!1 not again!! so every time the season is about to re-open, that’s the time the authorities see it fit to address the problems plaguing the city……malapropria!!
Why do you not utilize your common sense and judgment and think beyond, before you comment negatively? Your comments are not encouraging. They are depressing. Even on this Website, some people must utilize a different and better manner of communication.
It looks like they are serious about it in view of the bad publicity and reputation which Dominica got. I am confident that the minister and other authorities will implement a plan to get those vagrants out of the way of tourists. If you reside in Dominica, look forward to that.
Attorney douglas you are aware that yoyr plans totake the vagrants out of the city agaibst their will is punishable by law and is regarded as kidnapping. Create jobs for the vagrants. Put them in a program from the streets to a job to a house, untill they can afford to move out in their own. Stop claiming you planning.
what about the dilapidated houses in Roseau too? Empty lots with garbage on them? The traffic signs and pedestrian crossings?
There is no question that Roseau needs a facelift, people not asking for money, decent sidewalks and cleanliness at the least
Instead of writing about them, why not try to help to repair them? Or suggest to the authorities that they should be repaired and offer your services and money.
OH oH we had April to August THAT IS DURING THE close season to put things in place but alas we love to wait last minute – is now all you going to see about that – what allyou was doing between April and Now – it reminds me of the Ministry of Education is just before school open they want to start repair schools. everything upside down in this place.
Mr Douglas, vagrants are also a major problem to us locals. I have on numerous occasions been verbally attacked by one particular vagrant.
Take care of the problem so it benefits ALL.
Mr Piper, take a walk around Dominica and you will be ashamed of the the amount of rubbish everywhere.
It is not just Roseau tourist pass through. Please ask the powers that be why they insist on cutting hedges/trees/clean gutters etc and then just leave the rubbish in neat little bundles and NEVER attempt to clean up.
Since you were verbally attacked, thank God they did not harm you (are they all males?), you should report these incidents to the police and hope the police would take your complaints seriously and do something about it. They deserve to be put away. If not, the next time they would resort to worse actions. It would not only be you but others.
Their names should be on police record. If all they do is to beg, harass, verbally attack and insult other Dominicans, this is why they should not be allowed to roam the streets of Roseau.
The government should build a residence with a yard for those people, if they do not have a home, and keep them occupied so that they will not be on the streets bothering others.
This is a vision which is well-worth contemplating on and establishing for the peace, happiness and safety of Dominicans and visitors as also the tourists.
If the Minister for Tourism and the Director of Discover Dominica take a walk around Roseau, they might take a look at their own Visitor Information Center. Excellent staff but otherwise shamefully down-at-heel.
And by the way, as you walk around, be careful you don’t fall down holes in the pavements – that is assuming you can get on the pavement for parked vehicles!
Where you gonna put people like Yellow, and the rest of the beggers, that rome the streete of Roseau on a daily bases, the politicians are just blowing smoke aint no body got time for that.just fooling the people again.
Stop saying, just do it.
Minister busy to put things in place for tourist season but we the locals are affected just as bad as the tourists. The vagrants harass us too. The cleanliness of the sity should be a concern for all of us. We live there, we use there so we not important too. We pay taxes and we are treated so badly in this country. Alas poor us.
I no its so true eh they trouble us to give me are dollar na so if it was not for the white people all u would not take them off the streets so we dominicans dnt mean sheet to gorverment then stupes we also make an spend money in our country to we a a is one set all u carin for then but in are way praise god for the white people they comin off the streets
How often do you have to be told that the GOVT and their Consultants dont really care about the Resident they rather keep the poeple in poverty instead of trying to create jobs that would help to reduce the high Unemployment issue so they can provide for themselves.
How can they tell us they are all out to clean up Roseau but only when the tourist season is about to be open what happened to the people’s cry asking that the City of Roseau be cleaned up think of the anmount of jobs that would have created back then it was ignore. I laugh when I read that those so call authorities speaking about moving the vagrants out of the City what is happening they should be held responsible for what is going on the street in Roseau and where are they going to move these people to are they going to try to run other people off there Land to accommodate the vagrants.
I would suggest that the Mayor,PM and all other Authorities together with business individuals in the City to come up and implement plans that can improve the appearances not short term but rather long term instead .
Why is everything news worthy on DNO?
this is news worthy, unlike your comment
For one reason, it is the News and newsworthy!
“I believe that by the start of the season, I am hopeful that we can take some short term to medium term and eventually some long term solution to deal with that problem,”
Any programme to get these unfortunate folks out of sight just to improve the country’s on-landing ratings by cruise ships will be no more than patch-up work. This problem demands a comprehensive humanitarian response that involves social service agencies and philanthropic organisations. Some of these people also require psychiatric care and other assistance to improve their health and overall wellbeing. They should not just be seen as a nuisance to tourists but rather as human beings who need help and long term assistance. In addition to this issue, attention should be paid also to the inhospitable character of Roseau’s pedestrian infrastructure as a whole. The uneven sidewalks (with no wheel chair access) which are hazardous to abled-bodied persons and far more so to those with physical disabilities, the unsightly and unsanitary open drains with their unwelcoming stench, etc. would contribute as much, if not more, to the country’s low on-landing rating than the vagrants.
I hope the relevant ministers read your comments and take note of them to hopefully make some changes in these areas. You should also formally address these issues to them by means of either email or letter. These would be helpful steps in trying to do something for the betterment of Roseau, the peace, tranquility and safety of Dominicans who reside, work, shop and visit there.
Encouraged, I am truly encouraged by your comments, many thanks. These guys at the helm know nothing of vagrancy and decency in dealing with people who are vulnerable ….its always fast food policy and action that is just not good for your health.
Lennox please hurry, get into government, we know a good social worker who could be social welfare minister…it is time we give respect to this ministry, it is undermined, under used and abuse…We need that ministry and its service disciplined. Lets out the right resources in the right place.
we care,we are the party to take care of the young,old,under privleged,mental and socialy inflicted,we are the party of the people,,,,we care….this is what labour said,,,,,this is what they mean,,,,,,,,,,,,,we care about our pockets and the happiness of our chinese friends,,,,,all you fly your kite and fight over the scraps that drop from the table
Hey, if the City is “shut down” on Holidays, who is the City Guide guiding? This needs some clarity!
Secondly, there is a triangle of critical needs in the City, and not only the vagrants issue. The stench created by Solid Waste Company and the Illegal Vending are also deserving on serious attention right now. It is ethically wrong to tackle the vagrants issue for the benefit of the tourists and leave the illegal vending for the city supermarkets to battle. Don’t you see what goes on outside HHVW and ACS? Often, these vendors leave their trash for the supermarkets to clean. The Roseau Market has been designated, in law, as the site for selling produce and meats but there is no enforcement. This too needs attention.
The garbage pile-up in Roseau and environs is a case for the failure of the Solid Waste Company. To augment the failure, you only have to walk the streets after a garbage truck passes and the stench which comes from the liquid flowing from the truch is often too much to take in. So, I advise that the triangle of problems be tackled together. It is unfair to the investor who takes loans to create a business to trade in food items to be competed against by folks right there on the sidewalk the investor built and which he cleans every evening.
unfortunately the minister is confirming what we knew all along. Unless foreigners are uncomfortable they wont do a thing about a social issue that affects all people on island.
if you didnt know what they think of local ppl you should know now.
I agree with you wholeheartwdly. Look at at the current state of the city with garbage and vagrants everywhere so when cruise season start thats when they are going to do something, what a shame
It is too bad. They drive all the time. I suppose they do not walk around the streets of Roseau and shop there. Otherwise they would, hopefully, notice its state and experience the same as other Dominicans unless they would be walking around blindly.
I do not see how they could walk around Roseau and not notice what needs to be repaired and cleaned up. In any case there is the mayor of Roseau. He should ensure that those matters which are sore sights, unsafe and unhealthy are promptly taken care of.