Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said his government is hoping that the much talked about abattoir, located in the Layou Valley, will be managed by a private entity and the government is soliciting proposals from those interested in that regard.
He made that statement while speaking as a guest on State Owned Radio DBS, ‘Focus on Government and Development’ Program last week.
“Our hope is that the abattoir can be taken over by a private entity,” he said. “The government will still provide a subvention to the abattoir, but the intention of the government is not to own the abattoir and to be involved in purchase and sale of meat, or pork or poultry.”
According to him, there are now opportunities available for young Dominicans with university degrees, “who have degrees in Marketing, who have degrees in economics, who have degrees in finance, who have degrees in agriculture and the various agriculture related fields, who have degrees in animal science to come together as young professionals” to manage the facility.
Skerrit explained that the abattoir is built already and “we are not asking you to fetch $13-million, $14 million to invest in the abattoir…”
He mentioned that the government will be committed to a certain amount annually to meet the operating expenses, “but you will be responsible for managing the abattoir, purchasing the meat products and marketing the meat products to the domestic market.”
Skerrit noted that government is soliciting proposals from those interested.
Meantime, he said, the abattoir is part of the government’s agriculture program and so far two successful trial runs have been done.
Skerrit explained that there were a few issues with the equipment and the government has ordered parts to maintain them.
He hopes that the government will officially commission the abattoir in early August.
The $10-million abattoir was financed by the government of Venezuela.
The facility was originally set to be completed by October 2013 and various dates were given after that for its completion and opening including January 2014 and March 2014.
In March 2016, Agriculture Minister, Johnson Drigo, said it would be officially opened in April 2016.
Here goes that F-O-O-L-S-B-E-R-T again he wants every one who has a PhD to be involved in his failed program; but when he advertised the CBIP he ignored the academic requirements and handed it on a platter to his stooge Nanthan who has what? like me, NOTHING.
I thought of providing a coherent pragmatic comment about this particular topic, but I decided against wasting precious time. Listening to Drigo’s initial 5th Grade “The Dog Ate My Homework” reasoning why poultry prices from the abattoir would be more expensive than imported meat and meat by products, told me all that I needed to know. There are Dominicans with expertise all over the world that would gladly assist this government with a simple phone call, but they chose to practice bad management for the sake of cheap political gain.
It’s sad when agricultural officers and other professionals who were born and raised in Dominica, allowed these fools to build the abattoir near the water table of a vibrant community. It’s probably the same advisors who told the esteemed Dr. Skerritt to invest well over one hundred and forty million dollars into Melville Hall Airport in the mouth of a raging river.
That was a really bad move, bad location, The road is one of the worse and production is very low. You can’t even find a hen or a pig on the road these days in Dominica. Alas am not a big fan of UWP but PM you need to think before you come up with all these plans for DA.
Air Abattoir, flying to nowhere
This project should never have been situated in Layou Park! The abattoir is built on the water table to the whole of the Layou valley. If anything from the slaughter of the animals penetrates the water table the Layou river will be contaminated. It is staggering that the road from Ponte Casse to the Hillsborough bridge has had absolutely no work done on it at all since Erika. Surely if the Government really intended to make the abattoir a real working abattoir their priority would be the road! This road was one of the best and it was the connection to the west coast! This abattoir needs to be shut down and something more befitting such a juice factory, if they mend the road. There is no way in anyone’s vivid imagination that this abattoir cost 10 million dollars to build. The abattoir is made up of containers which are already rusting!! This very sad indeed, this operation will not succeed the Government know this hence the above article.
You are spot on re the location.That’s k why while Skerrits blind CLAPPERS were under the sea and under caves searching for names for the hospital which had not even germinated yet,I HAD A SIMILAR ISSUE WITH ITS LOCATION…..It befuddles me that all the graduated clowns in Skerrits DLP CABINOT,like blind idiots agreed to have a million dollar facility to house sick people located on the same site as PMH…!!!They travel the world to attend fora on climate change,and climate other things,they eat like gluttons,their stomachs are bulging,they are panting for breath with every five steps,they know that (or maybe the idiots don’t) the south of Dominica alone maybe has more active volcanoes than all the other Caribbean islands combined,but they can’t object Skerrit.Don’t talk about a major accident in the Roseau valley. So those scarecrows are just destroyers..The more they destroy,the more their clappers clap.
As the saying goes, Not all that glitters is Gold..Politicians seem to only plan for votes but Dominicans don’t vote for plans…and more than just plans, the execution of plans..
The dear PM seem to be hitting road blocks and improvising as he sputters along ..well let’s wait and see
Are those Economic Citizens allowed to tender ? After all you have their money already. I am sure they will be looking for market in the Middle East. You might have to make some changes Mr Prime Minister. Forget about pork production and concentrate on poultry.
But how come Mister dow give Austrie to run it nah
he already have great experience with petro caribe
Anyone who thought that this abattoir would get off the ground would have been kidding themselves. Once again the DLP has shown their ineptness in full flow. I shall give them credit for one thing, they are consistent at being inept.
Something so simple as getting an abattoir up and running cannot be seen through by a complete government made up of 18 ministers and equally the same number of permanent secretaries and copious amounts of technocrats.
This country is in a sorry state yet the minions say that Labour Ka Twaveye. Prisoners and prison officers are put at risk because of extremely poor living conditions and an abject lack of security, yet the Labour minions sing, Labour Ka Twaveye.
What a bunch of minions. Their master Gru (PM Skerrit) takes them to the pit of total austerity and misery yet they sing, I love my PM, Labour Ka Twaveye but what they really should be saying in great anger is, Labour Ka Twaveye Nous.
A sorry leader creates a sorry country
Is this GOVT not still looking for a management company to run the Moroccan Hotel.
Anything the GOVT try to outsource, folks will only take it on for FREE…because is no way they will get a return on their investment.
This GOVT don’t do financial viability before taking on projects , their only hope is by putting up more structures and buildings this will fool the people.
SMH
The prime minister who is also minister of FINANCE is looking for people who have degrees in finance to manage the abattoir? _ don’t be the fall-guy and don’t fall for that! leave all of this to Dr. Punjab! for if you take that bait , you definitely will become the fall-guy. The duty of any government is to secure a foreign market for goods and services that are provided locally ( there lies the profit) by the people; therefor leaving it to the people to do such on their own, is above their pay grade and doomed for failure_ more over the local market is not lucrative enough to sustain that venture.
Lets be fair the government is doing the right thing here. As to whether the government will be nonpolitical in asdigning the management gig that is a different conversation. Government cannot snd dhould not get involve in private enterprising. If i may add certsinly not this government with a marked history of mismanagement and fsilure.
This Government is a hot mess. Everything they are involved must miss parts. The maths never add up and proposed dates always extend by at least three years. Its like they there planning method is upside down. We have to get to the bottom of this. Why nothing they start is never completed. Coffee Plant, Rosalie Road, Apartments at Elmshall and Bath Estate, Roseau Rehabilitation Project (to make Roseau the envy of the OECS); Hospitals in the sky, Anse de Mai Jetty, Bailey Bridge at Wotten Waven/Trafalgar,……and the list goes on….
That abbatoir was built to gain political milage. Where was the head of the ministry of agriculture during that time when marketing, sourcing, inputs were all needed to ensure such a critically important venture hit the ground running on completion?
Now the potato too hot to hold Skerro trying to push it off on young eager entrepreneurs so they can take the fall. As long as the DLP hands are involved the entrepreneurs will fail unless they have a substancial cash reserve for a least 3-5 years. The meat is too expensive, the equipment is falling apart…already, too much competition from imports, etc etc. A complete sale of the facility is the only answer because and government joint venture will fail
. By the way, I wonder what is Mr. John-dont-know take on the PM’ speech 
Always Assertive!
Remember this is a CANNOT DO government…Skerrit has given poor Johno to look after the most important industry on island….Most of his other staffs are all party ideologues,dressing in red and playing politics..Then you have SKERRIT ……,saying with no evidence/facts, that he thinks agriculture is doing better than what the statistics are showing…This is a guy who can hardly stutter a sentence without stuttering ‘AM’ about 10 times,,,,he wants to enter the MATHEMATICS field now. Does he know the difference between 24 apartments and 30 apartments???
“Does he know the difference between 24 apartments and 30 apartments???”..
. Lawd oh lawd my belly horting me 
. Please do say that nuh! 
Assertive and laughing!
Soon a mix of the friends of the counterfeit-Neo DLP Cabal will use their ties and funds obtained from passport sales to take over the Abattoir. Every move on the socio-politic-economic chest board is deja vu.
IT WILL SOON COME TO PASS. AS soon as SKRIT signs the necessary docs- it like so let it be said let it be done.
hmm why not open it to the general public to buy shares and appoint managers similar to how a credit union is governed, make the people own it…
Very good idea.
That would help a long way into making it a successful venture.
Excellent suggestion. Ownership is key.
Be careful before you invest your money into a venture that still looking for management.
Shares are generally long term investment but too many unanswered question before considering share holders.
China, Philippines, Malaysia already dominate such markets, they are even mass producing fish these days
So before you invest find how such venture will compete
This a wonderful idea.
No, Dr. Punjabi has other plans first criterion: (1) must be own & controlled by the cabal.
(2) profits have to certainly be return to the boys & girls in the cabal /cabalists
(3) Add yours readers. Lol!