The Ministry of Public Works, Energy and Ports will receive the largest allocation of capital under the 2010/2011 national budget.
This announcement was made by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit during his the presentation of the budget amounting to $440.3 million at the House of Assembly Tuesday morning.
According to him, the ministry will receive $69.7 million or 49.6 percent of the total capital budget to undertake and continue existing infrastructural projects around the island.
“This financial year will see the commencement of construction works on Lot 2 of the Roseau to Melville Hall Road, the segment from Pond Cassé to Melville Hall, and on the Pointe Michel Sea Defense Project,” the Head of Government stated.
“In the fiscal year just concluded, much time was spent on finalising designs and other documentation, which we expect will allow construction works to move quickly. Continuing projects such as the Roseau Road Reinstatement, Roseau Improvement and Maintenance Project (Valley Roads), Roseau-to-Melville Hall Road Lot 1 – Canefield to Pond Cassé, the Road Network and Improvement Programme (Grand Bay to Loubiere) and the Petite Soufriere to Rosalie link road are all expected to be completed during the year,” he explained.
Prime Minister Skerrit stated that work is expected to continue on other projects beyond this new fiscal year.
“Among these are the West Coast Road and aspects of the Air Access Improvement project. In regard to the Air Access Improvement project, while the major works have been completed, Government is now concentrating on ancillary works such as local access roads and additional river defence which will give a boost to the project,” he noted.
In his address, the prime minister also spoke of the importance of the West Coast Road Project which is estimated at $100 million, among other significant infrastructural projects around the island.
Meantime, Blackmoore says PM Skerrit’s budget presentation reflects good news for all Dominicans.
Having taken the global economic crisis into consideration, Blackmoore said it is the best budget of any Government.
“Taken into consideration the reality of the world financially, I think it’s the best any government could present at this time. We are not proposing any new taxes and we are ensuring that we remove the responsibility or creating jobs from the public purse and trying to encourage private enterprise, starting from the small business enterprise,” he added.
Who is Blackmore barber nuh? Mr want to look like everybody else wee, including Hitler.
Anyway, on my visit to the Health Center in Newtown, the nurses had no gloves to put on their hands to attend to me, i had to go to a pharmacy and purchase gloves with my own money,and bring back for the nurse so she could attend to me. What is happening to our health dept? Every budget has big slices of cake for this one and that one, but please look at our small enterprises, look at our agriculture. There is a bunch of money being wasted on the Melville Hall airport, for what? When the sea is rough, vehicles coming from the Wesley area cannot cross down by that sea wall, water all over the place.
Seems some people have there eyes and ears and other organs buried deep inside somewhere, not even the sun can get to it.
people who vote and vote and vote again, hoping to get or have something done to improve their lifestyle, vote again. Just keep voting. Sot.
And them roads they making there, as soon as a shower of rain fall,,,holes in d road, until the next budget.
So we want it.
All in All, I say that Dominicans talk about Agriculture but not willing to plant, we talk about business but not willing to work hard, we talk about about welcoming investors, but we run them, we talk about international airport and hotels, but we want more agricultural land because we afraid of turning in to st lucia. How can the Government please us, it was the same with all other Government on Dominica they don’t know how to please an ungrateful set of people.
God help Dominicans to pray for all their leaders and give them the courage to put their hands to the p lough and not stay and criticize.
@contracts for the boys: What are you talking about No All Saints School for Grandbay, with all that crime down there, do you wish to put peoples children lives at risk? think about it, you know how grandbay people are like, build the school somewhere else.
@contract for the boys i support you 1000000000000000000000000000%…
@Eyes Wide Open: I believe that Dominicans need to get up and go and work in the fields , plant and contribute to our economy, we are too lazy, we expect the Government to do it all for us.
Well I`m all for infrastructural development, but I was under the impression that this years budget would cater more for agriculture. All now so, I`m listening to the agriculture minister babbling about how good this Govt has been for the agriculture industry, alas dominica, when will enough be enough. Do we have to turn into a st.Lucia where most of the agriculture land has gone into building golf courses and hotels. When is enough gonna be enough… When will we rise up and make these people listen to us. Building roads, bridges etc.. is good, but can we eat them. If we dont have jobs to go to, what point is having the road and bridge. Creation of employment by creating new production industries would have gone down better. We have so much natural products here, that we can package, put in cans etc.. which will then increase the selling price of our goods on the outside markets and create employment for those working in the fields, boxing, canning, packaging plants etc..Instead of accepting this coffee plant from venezuela, why didn`t we ask for a refrigerated boat, like those geest boats, to transport our goods throughout the caribbean in a well preserved state. Its high time we start thinking big things for our country, is not everytime we have to wait for overseas investors to come and invest in our country and give us jobs, we can do that for ourselves.
@Ragodor: You are so right. No ALL SAINTS Medical School for Grandbay as was promised years ago. What went wrong? They fooled the GrandBayrians again. The said school is still in the Old Roseau Boys’ school area. Norris Prevost proposed and begged Govt for the setting up of a much needed Business Incubator, so that small businesses owned by Dominicans could be established. But Govt is so not interested in local small business entrepreneurs as the engine of growth, they totally rejected that viable project. Instead the Chinese has taken over that sector and setting up businesses all over Roseau. No Eco-Tourism projects in GrandBay again as promised? Fooled again and again. Who cares about the ‘Cultural capital?’ The community is in the BAG already.
More money and projects for the BOYS and their companies. More kick backs. More deals instead of transparent Open tendering for those contracts. Many examples could be cited, but remember and compare those two projects and the associated costs. FOND ST. JEAN Sea defense project on the rough Atlantic coast, with more work done cost less than $2.5 million dollars, whereas the wall just below the UWI Centre in Bath Estate, with much less work done cost $4 million plus dollars. My people, you could go visit the areas and make your eyes boil your peas. No information or reason from GOVT. why that exorbitant cost for building that wall below UWI and the job was still not properly done. The contractors had to go back and fix up things after Brisbane revealed those discrepancies and unusually excessive costs. That is what Dominicans must be worried about and rightly so. The pockets of a few will get fatter. They will be laughing all the way to the banks while the majority of Dominicans get poorer. It is those corrupt practices, kick backs, contracts for the boys that will suck up the greater portion of those millions of dollars. There is documented, irrefutable proof of those deals taking place. Meanwhile the authorities will continue to put butter around the mouths of the poor people and business will go on as usual. The local company PUBLIC WORKS is down under, BROKES and cannot compete with Gardakhan. That is the next level Dominicans.
Good to see infrastructure being upgraded…but alas can they use better asphalt….
The Roseau valley road has only been paved about 6 months and already it has potholes!!!!!!
yes potholes!!!… and im not talkin about lil things on the edge…there are potholes right down the middle of the road….poor quality road works Mr. Blackmore!
Proper infrastructure is crucial to the development of any county. In order to attract investor (which in turn create employment) the proper infrastructure need to be in place. A good network of road is important. A good move if everything is done transparently.
Great financial lingo, however the most important thing is how many of us will be going to work and earn a living on the “great decline in poverty” according to the PM?
That’s good for both the people of Grand Bay and Petite Savanne,cause despite their level of poverty (most of them), they continue to be blinded by the few who are benefiting from the govt largesse and they follow them with their labour crap.
What sucks is that most of these people are living in absolute poverty,but they can’t think independently like the people of Salisbury and Marigot,who are bold enough to tell the govt,despite your handouts,we are tired with you…
We have two of the dummest parl reps anyway,so what do you expect.Two of a kind!!!!
MR PRIME MINISTER WE NEED AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…I SAY WE PUT THE AIRPORT IN PORTSMOUTH….WE LEVEL CABRITS FLAT AND PUT THE AIRPORT….WE COULD HAVE A YACHT MARINA…A CARGO PORT…HOTELS ON THE BEST BEACHES IN DOMINICA (THEY ARE IN PORTSMOUTH)….ROSS UNIVERSITY….ALL IN THE SAME AREA OF PORTSMOUTH
Remeber budgets are guesstimates depending on the flow of revenue and can be derailed by natural or man made events. It is wrong to think that the money is in the treasury just awaiting the projects. The money is still to be collected from taxes, loans , grants etc which may or may not come in.
It’s long overdue! maybe the government is awaiting on something to happen before they can address the Geneva bridge in the Southeast GrandBay. There is nothing for this part of the island.
Why? Because the people will follow the DLP regardless. Wake-up Grand Bayrians! The time is now to demonstrate for what is due to your village. you get nothing for your votes and you are taken for a ride by this administration because it believes that you are a set of stupid people who will follow the color Red. Demand that your Par-rep get that long forgotten bridge replaced.