Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has said there is no quick fix to the current economic challenges being faced by small island states like Dominica.
The Prime Minister, in a interview with the Government Information Service (GIS), said regional economies must make adjustments to their fiscal policies.
“They have to continue prodding on with their fiscal policies and ensuring that they can be resolved,” Skerrit pointed out.
“Sometimes people believe that if you have a problem and you throw money at it then you will address it. There are structural changes that countries must make as well as fiscal policies that must be put in place,” he argued.
The Prime Minister used the example of the United States to drive home his point.
“We see in the United States where billions of dollars have been poured into the economy, yet still there has been no real improvement. It is going to take some time for the region to get out of its current economic situations,” PM Skerrit remarked.
The Dominica leader is advocating that CARICOM spend more time talking about how the economies can be strengthened.
“I think at the CARICOM level we have to spend more time looking at the economies and talking about the struggle of the people. The CARICOM agenda sometimes is too fixed. It has to be flexible and able to address the ongoing issues,” he suggested.
Prime Minister Skerrit is hoping that CARICOM Heads, during their deliberations in 2013, will adopt a new approach and seek to address present day issues.
what was the comment or question he was responding to?
” they have to keep prodding on with their fiscal policies and ensuring that they an be resolved”. Notice he did not say WE have to ep on prodding. Again notice the word ” their ” and not the word our.
In every facet he tries to exonerate himself , blame others – consciously or otherwise. He feels like he s above any criticism.
He talking about the faults and errors in the policies among the regional territories yet he chooses words that excludes him from te fray.
The signs of a dictator, someone who feels that he or she cannot be eld accountable for his or her actions. That he or she can do as he or she please and is exempted from punishment.
“CARICOM should spend more time talking….?” Is this what the PM really wants to advocate? More talk? Mr. PM! CARICOM has failed!! At the core of the failure is the increasing gap between what the regional leaders seem to want and what regional peoples want. The region is definitely not decided on a path forward. For example, it seem clear that while the regional people want integration, our leaders do not. CARICOM leaders are all about political leadership and posturing, and nothing else. The time for talking had long gone. We’ve missed the boat, but here is our PM talking about building a pwi-pwi to catch up.
When they promise Dominicans the next level and something happening did that come with quick fix and a large soda and instead of fries they offer a few concrete wall and ass fault pavement.
What about the hundred day plan, the unemployment check of $400 dollars ? Was the regional economic policies different when you made those promises and wasn’t the world economic crisis in motion? If the answer is yes to all then why are you doom doom complaining and telling us there is no quick fix. You have been in power for 13 years and now you talking about quick fix. The time definition for quick fix seem to be 30 years for you band of deceptionists.
We are nevertheless fully aware of what real quick fix mean to you and your cabal and if Dominicans really want to see quick fix they must drive u north to Guillet Savane Paille and then take the back road through Penville , stop I. Viellecase Case for a moment. Then drive the main route back to Portmouth , stop in Borrne for a moment. head Back to Roseau enjoy the resurfaced west coast road stop in Mahaut and then start asking questions as you head back to Roseau. Notice I did not ask you to stop in St Joe cause the quick fix dispenser actually worked in Roseau.
DNO thanks for allowing us to vent our frustration. But nous que motwais yo coma Poule ca pon come election. We will take your offerings and dispose of you bunch of useless plunderers
can you see the man start making excuses to get voted in . People wake up and smell the coffee DO NOT LET SKERITT FOOL YOU AGAIN.hE SICKENs me now when he talks. Stop that Roselvet, come clean
He sure had a quick fix for his wages though jacking up salaries as he came in office.
Further he never poured into the economy. He poured concrete. All the money went to China.
I can’t understand why the PM always use the US when he is talking about the economic situation in Dominica and the Caribbean region. The US gov’t is working to put its people back to work, what are you doing for my fellow Dominicans who are without jobs? Instead of using the US to draw your reference lay out what plans your government has to rectify the economic sitution in Dominica. And to the reporters on GIS, start asking more challenging questions to the PM during your interviews.
move towards being a manufacturing state
1. stop useless accummulation of debt.State palace.
2. Get some people in the industry to figure out what is wrong with the tourism industry. Bending over to the cruise ship lines is not the answer.
3. Reduce regressive taxation. ie stop putting load on poor people’s back…it will lead to increase in criminal activity. Basic things like not removing public standpipes. VAT is killing the poorest of the country.
4. I do not want to sound like Parry bellot, but are we not paying a lot more in salaries to useless public servants than we need to.
5. to accomplish 4 in a democratic country we would have to at least half the number of useless ministers.
6. Ease up on the Bob…
7. We have now made our locals feel that just now we will need the chinese to wipe our a….. So how can we expect to prosper.
When these greedy and dishonest men in power, what do they expect? The dollars must get a bobo.
PM
skerrit never had a plan for the country and he never will after u full your pocket now u telling ppl there is no quick fix to the economy skerrit u fail the ppl of this country i think its better step down
Is that the sad excuse of the country’s Minister of Finance for the country’s decline in all sectors? Dominica’s production in agriculture, manufacturing has declined real bad. On 15% VAT on a hard-pressed people that lazy, incompetent Gov’t depending to run a country?
What new initiatives, what creative ventures have Skerritt and his DLP Gov’t come up with in the last decade?
Poverty, crime, violence,unemployment, corruption on the increase. Those in “high places’ constantly disregard the Constitution and laws of our land. The Cabal is so engaged in all kinds of kokomakak, quick enrichment, protecting and defending corrupt acts that the economy takes second stage. The business of the people is placed on the back-burner. Selfishness and personal greed is the order of the day.
Dominica is rich, but Skerritt and his Govt cannot manage the affairs of the people. All what has been done in the dark, is slowly coming to light. Secret deals being revealed with no refuting by those involved. Time will tell. Our country is in a sorry state, thanks to incompetence and bad governance.
But we don’t have another option with those narrow minded, gullible, plan-less, ignorant, no strategy opposition in Dominica
i have a suggestion to your question… i think that skerrit should keep all the money until the beginning of election and then start throwing money at the problems then.
and give everyone redundant jobs the but keep them hungry for the next four year all in the name of making a better economy for our beautiful country.
Pm…start the campaign….let us if the opposition can handle the race. Labour must win this coming election.
no other choices my ppl.
The man is basically begging for a way out. He cannot do the job- ever could and never will. The an s always looking t blame somebody or anybody else but himself. According Dominica is nt a real country. Hw can a leader of a country can ake a statement like that when you had 13 years to fix what you guys said was a UWP fiasco. Are you guys still blaming UWP?
It is time for you and your lame ducks to get the heck out and allw competent, honest and knowledgeable people aage the affairs of our country. There is no quick fix but you and the other butchers had yourselves some quick fix
OK if that is the case my people where is he getting money from all now to be spreading llke fire buying vote already in smart………………am watching
According to Skerrit:“We see in the United States where billions of dollars have been poured into the economy, yet still there has been no real improvement.”
Skerrit is out of depth here. Ask the auto workers whose jobs were saved by the US Government bailout. Now, the auto industry is reving. The housing market is gaining strength with each successive report. The number of persons claiming unemployment benefits is on the decline. In the last quarter of 2012, the trade deficit shrank to its narrowest point in three years. The US economy is actually recording growth, Mr. Skerrit. So, your dismal of the US government bailout is off the mark. You appear not to be informed about the issues—issues that matter to the ordinary man and woman.
MR “PM” I feel your pain, but hope you take your own advise to do something for the “deportees”They are comining and your job is to seek to adress it before it spreads like wild fire in our small island. Remember, to be fore warned: is to be prepared. “Been there done that.” The security and Quality of life of us Dominican citizen is paramont,thefefore the Governmentjob is to ensure that the right things are in place to deal with situations. I have no doubt you and the other decision makers will tackle the situation effectively at least thats all we can expect as citizens and I stand ready to assist as always. Good luck! Always ready, always Dominican.
agriculture,. let us feed our nation. let us make use of what GOD bless us with, DOMINICA in it history was a leader in agriculture,
PM am i the only one that can recall you promised DOMINICAN two refrigerated boats to transport fresh produce to barbados
Huh??? WTF am I hearing. This man need to have TelePrompTer whenever he is going to make public statements. Roosevelt what have you and your government done towards bettering the economy from since 2000. People who understand leadership and management understand the importance of taking responsibility for the things that go wrong under their portfolio and leadership. Why it is that SKERRIT regime always point to other countries when their failures are highlighted are in question. Take Vince Henderson for example. He points to other small island states to pacify or justify our country’s failure to pay the UN dues.
The terrible economic conditions in Dominica is not due to the regional economy. We need to talk about our own domestic policies beginning with the failure to build a productive economy – the absolute neglect shown towards Agriculture, the drastic drop in manufacturing and export, the lack of vision and interest in ramping up the construction sector etc.
Because under SKERRIT administration the country was given a stadium and a few roadways were uplifted so e of us think that this is miraculous. Well Eugenia built more infrastructure in 5 years than this administration did in 14 years and the UWP did its fair share in one term. The looming question is what has been done to prevent the people from eating concrete. Silence – let think about this without emotions nor partisan compassion cause emotions nor partisanship has never built a country.
I travel extensively and never have I heard the bajans, Kittitians, Trinis nor Lucian’s blame the fiscal policies of the region . Politicians are held accountable for domestic economic policies or fiscal management.
True leaders take responsibility for their actions. If this government had built a productive economy we would not be in. Such a dilapidated state.
If SKERRIT is insinuating that his decision to borrow money from China and put Chinese to work instead of Dominicans as insignificant then someone is giving him bad advise. To indicate that the US bail out did not work or was not effective is absolute ignorance and nonsensical. I wonder what material does this leader read if he ever does. It was be et expected that the bail out would provide a 360 degree turn around particularly when the US was loosing jobs hundreds of thousand jobs per week. . Not even the FDR deal was able to immediately turn the US economy around – it took years of war to help do so.
In a small economy like ours – twenty million dollars on a state palace when cruise tourism accommodation is atrocious and threatens the already feeble cruise tourism industry. When The terrible feeder roads have caused farmers to abandon their plantations. When trades men are running to the neighboring islands because the Chinese are doing the work, when our local entrepreneurs are left to compete unfairly with imported businessmen we have no reason to point to regional policies but to examine our own policies.
After reading this comment by the Prime Minister it makes it very easy to conclude that the PM is certainly incapable of the position. In fact one can also conclude that he is simply telling us that he cannot do the job.
If this Rediculous public utterance is not the straw that breaks the Carmel back for those who are simply objective and just wants to see us grow then I am not sure if some of us know wether we are riding a Carmel or an elephant.
I agree with you 100%
wonderful observation Portsmouth, people here keep mixing politics with the betterment of Dominica it’s society. just look at what this guy is saying about the situation here but then he has Chinese working on every major government project like we Dominicans do not need those jobs plus Dominicans supporting this and not realising what it means. we really need to come together as a nation, a people. positive!
Mr PM I disagree with you. The US poured billions of dollars and into its economy and yet there is is no real improvement. Mr PM do your researh.. When President Obama took office the US was losing 800,000 jobs per month, thanks to the bail out over the past 4 years the US added over five millions jobs. Stop talking about the US and let of Dominica know what are your plans for creating jobs in Dominica. The entire country is upside down. Stop using the US as an excuse for your fail leadership. I hope the people of Dominica will do the right thing before its too late.
Well put.
“we have to keep prodding along” Is that a plan or are we hoping a miracle will happen????
But all his Foreign Policy, Dominica was better off Economic wise without China and all that Charvez Input..
This Prime Minister has a Key HOLE mindset!
Nationally we should spend more time concentrating on putting leaders to lead who are capable,above board, honest,respectful (including having respect for our constitution) to lead this poor and ailing nation.
Lies have a way of resurfacing and hitting us in the face. Although all the economic indicators showed that we were performing terribly relative to our Caribbean neighbours,we were told ad nauseum how well Dominica was doing, it was insulated from the global economic meltdown, etc., and that we were sending money to all countries on earth.Now we are hearing something different.Laziness and incompetency mixed with a myriad of other negatives are the forte of these leaders. SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
what regional economic situation. Just sell passport $500,000 for one.
here is a perfect example to the bashers,if any of you can fix the world economy now lets see it.
From Barbados to Jamaica, with Trinidad being the exception because of Oil…and maybe SXM…we in for the long run…unless the US econnomy can’t grow by 6 – 8 % insstead of the 1 to 2 % we in the Caribbean will see ginal growth as well ….in the 0.1 to 2%…
Again PM Skerrit is correct….the uwp fanatics get emotionally bent out of shape when facts are stated.
@Grell u too sot, ofcourse i can fix the world economy, just stop using fiat money.
What a Jack behind you are . We wonder why we dourventt derrière and totally lost. It is people like you that have the political directorates so lazy and incompetent.