Agriculture, the knowledge industry, and the renewable sector are three main areas the United Workers Party (UWP) plans to focus on if elected into office following the next general election.
Political Leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) Dr. Thomson Fontaine made the announcement during the launching ceremony of the upcoming ‘Dominica Economic Revival Summit’ scheduled to take place from June 4- 6, at Jungle Bay in Soufriere.
“The number one thing that we would do immediately would be to revitalize the agricultural sector,” he said. “We would immediately put a large amount of resources, even if it means we would have to borrow to do that or you would put a substantial amount of resources into the agriculture sector.”
He continued, “Why [do] you want to do that? If you are building a house you have to start with a firm foundation and a foundation for any kind of economic activity in Dominica is the agriculture sector.”
According to Dr. Fontaine, the perception is that agriculture involves only field labor.
“That is not necessarily what we are talking about,” he stated.
He explained that in agriculture today, one can add much value through agro-processing.
“There are people waiting to get our produce in different islands,” Dr. Fontaine said.
Apart from reviving the agricultural sector, he said the second thing is to find avenues for the young people in Dominica. “And that is why I talked about the knowledge industry,” he noted.
“That is an area I believe that can really do a lot to sustain Dominica and to sustain Dominicans, especially our young people,” Dr. Fontaine said. “And the third one is the renewable sector.”
“Being able to really move beyond talking about using our geothermal, sun, wind but harnessing that in such a way that you have cheaper electricity that will drive the manufacturing that we are talking about,” he explained.
This he said will drive the use of the country’s water resources.
“I think if we focus on these three areas, we can move Dominica from a position of growth [of] 5 to 6 percent in a relatively short space of time,” Dr. Fontaine stated.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fontaine said tourism will also be part of the plan to grow the economy.
“Once we have an international airport that will help to develop the tourism product, develop our stayover visitors,” he noted.
He asserted that Dominica has much to offer, and the tourism product needs to be developed.
For the first time,Knew better know better.One box of fig can make fry fig chips both green and ripe,it can also make fig(banana juice).Mr.Better if we wait on the government to do everything,then you will say Skerrit is a dictator and Dominica is a one party state.Dale Dangleben,Emanuel Finn,Gabriel Christian.Irvin Andre,Sheridan Gregoire,Severing Mc Kenzie and Thompson Fontaine should open factories instead of playing UWPites and talking BS,hoping to get into power.When Rosie Douglas said the diaspora would play an important role in the development of Dominica,he did not mean they have to be in government.
let your voice be heard Dr.Fontaine let them know you have what it takes and there is a viable alternative to the current government. let them know you are somebody too and people will start to take you seriously. Give them the facts ,and ask them the questions “Did they know?
Finally, a member of the UWP endorses the international airport. But all those fools on social media continue to criticize this useful project.
See, what i dont want is for these people to sole just be chasing Agriculture. When Agro processing and manufacturing are the keys to our success. Is one thing to export a box of fig, when the same box of fig cane create a value added product that can return 3 times the amount of the box of fig by itself. We need INDUSTRY here in Dominica. More quality manufacturers, more industrial sites more export opportunities. What we lack is only opportunities to get it right. If we arent pursuing agriculture with a great send of technology implimented then we are just going back to the farms with cutlass and pitch fork to do back breaking work in hot sun. In south and central america they have automated their banana fields. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh8QAn523bE
More garbage talk. Don’t know what more to say. Today is Agriculture, tomorrow is tourism. Look rorro.
You said, “We need INDUSTRY here in Dominica. More quality manufacturers….” 👌 excellent.
They are all on the outside looking in at the cost of your electricity,.. their main driver.