Concerns have been raised by members of the public regarding the environmental impact of the Dominica International Airport project.
The Kalinago chief and other prominent members of the public have joined calls for an immediate halt, while others suspect the valley’s mineral-rich soil may be targeted for quarrying valuable minerals under the cover of completing the Airport Project.
Meanwhile the MMCD and CR5 – the companies involved in the development and construction of the airport – claim this is all misinformation.
Do you believe construction of the Dominica International Airport should be paused until all environmental compliance standards are fully met?
You can find the poll on each article page. The results of the poll will be published in 2 weeks.
Let us know how you feel about this hot topic in the comments below.
*Editors note*
The original quote from former Chief Physical Planner Annie Edwards was removed as it was found to be inaccurate.
That information was taken from another news source at the time.
We have since received word from Edwards herself and do apologize for any inconvenience caused.
No. the airport development project should not be halred
https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40048184
Read these and more and then see how the Dominica Grammar School roof failure had to be investigated both by Dominica and request from the Chinese Authorities as the Peoples Republic of China has this project as part of at 4 pillar project for Dominica, including the Windsor Park stadium and the lighting that they claimed was not well done, EO LeBlanc high way issues early there were concerns about drainage etc.
The individuals building these projects in Dominica are from Chinese Government region.
Get the international built ASAP. It should have happened years ago. There are countries a lot smaller than DA with international airports. I’ve been travelling in and out of DA almost every year for the past 50 years and it’s a pain in the backside to have to go through Antigua or Barbados and deal with those rude and unhelpful airport workers. Direct flights is the way to go. The environmental impact will be sorted and the people who are protesting will soon see the benefits of the new airport. KEEP CONSTRUCTING.
What makes it illicit? Dominica has been talking about building an international airport for well over 50 years, now that one is about two years from completion we have obstruction activities from the UWP and it acolyte organizations.Remember, it was the UWP in 1999 that took a loan to build an Airport in the same general area as the one that is now been built. The money unfortunately was spent on other things and no airport was built, government is still paying this loan. Material for the UWP airport was supposed to come from a quarry that the then PM James intended to operate in the same area in Pagua where materials for the construction of the New airport is been extracted. Mr. James is now seeking an injunction to permanently shut down this quarry. Do we want development in Dominica? With this type ridiculous political opposition to the airport and the Marina , I think it is time to start importing horses and place signs in the Atlantic warning hurricanes to keep clear of DA.
Which should be given top priority – the airport or the health and well-being of the people?
Get it right! Most Dominicans are not against the construction of an international airport. They are opposed to the serious threat to people’s health and the severity of the damage to the environment – air, water, land, plants.
You are umbilically tied to the DLP. You give unequivocal support to all they do even when it’s despicable or deny
deleterious. People like you are educated derelicts.
I still do no understand why a tiny island like dominica with a population of 80.000 who already have two airports need an international airport apart from greed and deception..
logic says refurbish the two that you have..
That is because you simply do not understand economics, modernization and tourism economy…PERIOD!
No..it is not about the economics of tourism. if it were then for a start the capital should not be in the state it is in. i do not see tourists populate the capital roseau when they come. there is nothing there for them. if it were about economics then instead of building this airport the two existing airports would have been refurbished and two airplanes would have been purchased to eliminate dependency. and guess what rose university may have still been here. i am sure as one who is so upbeat about economics you would know how many people lost an income due to rose university
If it were about economics then it would not have taken so many decades to build this airport. no. the question is..why now. when the whole world is in a state of flux and people are loosing their jobs.
There is an island called st barts..they have one airport and a tiny air strip and are extremely prosperous..
No..it is not about economics..Period .
Poor wording of the poll question – Deiux Branches and the Airport construction should be treated as separate issues. The Gov’t would love for the public to see as one issue. We can get materials from other locations for the airport and that is a known fact.
Should the operation at Deux Branches be halted until a full ESIA is done? Absolutely, 100%
ADMIN: We take your point that would have been an excellent question.
A the same time, there are likely to be delays to the Airport Project if the quarry operation at Deux Branche was halted. A new quarry site would not be in operation overnight.
In response to ADMIN
If halting the quarry operation at Deux Branche delays the airport project, so be it.
Had the airport project been more carefully considered in the first place, we would not be in this predicament.
ADMIN: “A the same time, there are likely to be delays to the Airport Project if the quarry operation at Deux Branche was halted. A new quarry site would not be in operation overnight.”
A responsible observation. Well done, ADMIN!
ADMIN: To clarify, this is merely a fact based observation it is not a statement for or against the airport project or the quarry site.
We maintain that the facts need to be examined and put above (political) opinion.
The facts should always inform the best way forward particularly when so many people are being affected.
I was there in last July. I am neither supporter of DLP nor UWP but amazed about this ongoing project especially the location. The place was chosen based on aerospace engineers based on certain criteria. Certain sacrifice has to made for greater good. Not everyone can’t be 100% satisfied and gets worse when someone politically affliated. Dom already heavily invested, let it finished. Duting my stay in Dominica, I had a chance to meet late PM Eugenia in private party, seen freedom party, workers party and a bit labor party era. Remember, labor came as robust victory in 1999. I met R. Douglas 3-5 days before election in Nassif store in bayfront where Mr. Elias Nassif introduced me to him and a month later he was dead. Yes, I never liked labor as their political message was equivalent to Trump’s base supporters. Lots of doctors from PMH left or relocated bc of them but still I believe a progress is progress and it should be propagated willingly or unwillingly. Country comes before…
The new airport construction should never have started. They are destroying beautiful prime real estate needlessly. That land will never recover and land is scarce. The island is only 30 X 15 miles and consists of prime rain forest. They are destroying one of the main reasons tourists visit. There is nothing wrong with the current airport constructed in the late 1950’s all they need to do is extend the runway some more out into the Atlantic Ocean. It is proven that jet aircraft can land safely at Douglas Charles so why do they need a new airport?
Yes it should be stopped immediately! Airport work should never have begun without a fully comprehensive ESIA and community participation. Only in a dictatorship relying on passport sales would such a megaproject proceed without a full ESIA and community consultations. The Deux Branches work should be subject of a separate ESIA – not the excuses that MMCE, CR5, and the PM try to distract us with!
I would like to add that a complete ESIA is not a rubber stamp. Though most megaprojects pass the pre-construction ESIA phase, some don’t, and have been held up for decades or simply abandoned. The PM and MMCE seem to treat environmental and social issues as a mere inconvenience. They are more than that. Otherwise what is the point in studying and hearing out environmental and cultural/social objections?
It’s very obvious something is amiss because of the deafening silence coming from the Morne Daniel Palace.
Everything upside down in Dominica. we’re still waiting on Skerat to find out what’s in the MOU he signed with china and why isn’t he making it public.So Dominica was willed to skerrit and his goons. Skerrit Should be arrested for his crimes against Dominica.
DNO, I am waiting for your poll on the question, ‘Should the ongoing quarrying/ mining at the Deux Branches and Concord area be halted?’
Eddie J wrote to the U.S. saying that building an international airport will interfere with elections now you all are back again smfh UWPWEE !!
I consider the wording of the poll to be misleading in terms the issue at hand.
Instead of asking:
Do you believe construction of the Dominica International Airport should be paused until all environmental compliance standards are fully met?
The question should be:
Do you believe the illicit quarrying should be paused until all environmental compliance standards are fully met?
But either way, I predict that future generations of Dominicans will rue the decision to build the airport without giving greater consideration of its negative impact.
Yes stop the work immediately
The International Airport shouldn’t just be paused it should be stopped!!!
That investment is urgently needed for Dominica’s collapsing road network. All the aggregate and materials going into the airport could be used to repair and upgrade roads where the benefits would be immediate.
We already have flights from Miami and New Jersey, which is realistically all the island can support now.
The Possie to Marigot road is terrible, with tiny one-way traveling bridges, and crossing Hampstead river still inaccessible when heavy rain falls, there’s nonstop pothole repairs going on.
The West Coast road is also falling apart after Chinamandem half-@$$ attempt to resurface it.
What are guests whom are coming to the 10 Star Hotels saying? Visitors are those truly affected by access issues both in air travel and ground transportation.
The real question is whether the Government should prioritize fixing local infrastructure including Roads’ access before expanding air access…
I belive the project should be stopped? no questions about.
The excavation or removal of an entire mountain be it to backfill as long as soil is being displaced – I. that vast quantity it means that the community should be informed with the necessary input taken into consideration. Access to clean drinking water is being violated. Climate impact this type of project can have – moving earth trees -clean air, water water table – landslides destabilizing the surrounding. Fish and wild life.
A buffer on the edge of protected space – is that accounted for. with all the talk of resetting communities due to landslides slowly creating a man made issue. dust health concerns. creating bare space by removal of trees.
the project cost in terms of citizens health Concerns as well as replanting of trees, mitigating further erosion in the area after,
Getting the soil tested and to include this area in or make it protected space. have legislation passed for his.
why didn’t de government choose a location that would be flat out obviously less controversial.
I haven’t heard any scientist from government outline de benefits if any of the approach with proven analysis from engineers and the like to reinforce their proposal.
I recall when Gardahkan was working on the East coast road…….de soil slippage and mess that came along with the civil works……..vehicles parked by de roadside for hours into the night
Skerrit acts like its either his way or de highway…….stubborn, insensitive and cruel to de tax payers……even laborites
when disasters come it will not be de fault of de comments on this post.
de engineers in Government know better………they bring their big stick on local homeowners…….like they get rewarded based on who they squeeze
some people nose bigger than their face………..time is de biggest revealer not me
I’ve worked on enough projects and I am not going to reveal my line of work.
There is a lot of tarish on the west coast why don’t they use that, or is it because the soil is not the same type as the soil on the east coast where the airport is being built?
I reiterate the comment I posted under the earlier news item:
Considering that the project is of national importance, it prompts the question:
Have the full Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and ten Environmental, Social, Health, and Safety (ESHS) management plans that have been mandated and submitted for review under the Physical Planning Act, been made available to the public?
why am I not suprised? these people have tried to halt every bit of progress over environmental concerns for as long as I can remember. the botanical gardens wall for example but if history has proven anything is that Dominica is resilient. so if what Hurricane maria did didn’t prevent the island from continuing to be as green as ever. so these people who are more concerned with political hog wash rather than the actual well being of the island… in my humble opinion they should leave the wolf crying for when there is an actual wolf to cry about.
So all who are negatively affected and are having health and environmental difficulties are saboteurs? This should be a people first government. People’s lives are sacred.
An immediate pause should be ordered by the relevant authorities. Carry out the investigations and necessary enquires, then put measures in place to mitigate against the numerous hazards.
The airport project should continue, while the authorities implement mitigation practices.
have you witnessed any mitigating practices?
list dem out for de public nuh……….de ministries of works and environment did not
This is the wrong question to ask. It should be:
‘Should Cozier Frederick, the Minister of the Environment, give a full, open, and honest explanation to the public of what is happening at Deux Branches and Concord, including whether he signed off on an environmental impact analysis before work started?”
this is can agree to…… a full and detailed report should be published on the impact assessment studies.
All elected members of parliament are answerable to the people. He should have done this already. However, I’m not surprised he hasn’t. Firstly he is completely clueless generally, and secondly, he is not going to admit to negligence, incompetence, or wrongdoing. He has absolutely no credentials whatsoever with regard to his role as Environment Minister.