Despite being in the throes of an economic crisis, Venezuela will be funding major projects in Dominica, officials say.
Ports Minister, Ian Pinard, said a Venezula-funded project of some US$13.5-million to rehabilitate the two major ports on the island is expected to begin as early as this month.
Venezuelan ambassador to Dominica, Hayden Pirela, said earlier this week that his country, in conjunction with a Chinese company, will be funding a project to widen some of the island’s roads.
Pinard told Kairi’s Heng Program that the rehabilitation of the Woodbridge Bay Port and the Cabrit’s Berth in Portsmouth is a signifcant project.
He stated the contract for the project was signed last month.
“That project is expected to start this year; in fact this month the project is expected to start.” he noted. “It is going to be a significant project in terms of what we have to do. Most of the funds will be leveled towards Woodbridge Bay in terms of rehabilitating it because we haven’t done anything on it for a long time.”
He said since that port has been built, “there has been some deterioration.”
Meanwhile, Pirela said a meeting was held in Dominica with a Chinese company “and they have asked me of different projects they can help in the development of Dominica.”
He mentioned that sections of Newtown, Mahaut and Massacre have very narrow roads.
“We want to see if we can do a project to widen these roads,” Pirela said.
On Wednesday this week, President of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro, admitted that the country’s economy is in crisis with a 2.8 percent drop in 2014 and inflation at 64 percent.
He assured Venezuelans that despite a huge drop in the price of oil globally, which the country heavily depends on, “God will provide.”
Reports indicate that oil sales account for 96 percent of Venezuela’s foreign income, a figure that has gone up from around 80 percent since former President Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999.
Earlier this month, President of the Dominica Labour Party, Petter Saint Jean, said Venezuela’s economic woes will not have a negative impact on assistance received from the South American country.
“He mentioned that sections of Newtown, Mahaut and Massacre have very narrow roads.”
Didn’t the “Foolish Minister” from Mahaut, tell Mahaut residents in a meeting that, those homes that were literally built on the road will not be moved and that government will not be taking away their land.
I would like to know what the plans are for Mahaut, Massacre and Newtown roads. US$13.5 million dollars cannot rehabilitate the ports in Roseau and Portsmouth plus tackle the roads in Newtown, Mahaut and Massacre.
I sometimes wonder if the ministers or their press secretaries vet these press releases before they are borne out to the public. It appears that they’re so busy to announce these projects, that little thought and deliberation is given to basic logic and common sense.
Let’s see what Rayburn has to say this time around when Mahaut residents begin to question him about whether or not they will be forced to move away from the road side.
Totally ridiculous! Venezuela is destitute. The projects here are ridiculous. A coffee plant with no coffee beans. A abattoir to kill chickens and pigs with absolutely not enough livestock to maintain such a project!! The Venezuelan’s need all the money they have in their country!!
What also is interesting is the state mentioned that it is the Venezuelan government and a Chinese Company funding the project. A Chinese company not the Chinese government. So what do we owe that Chinese company and why is a Chinese company just throwing money at ud.I am sure Real Porssie would wants to know why the 16 year old daughter or son is showered with gifts by a stranger
Venezuela is scraping up funds to pay bonds in the mount of Euro 1 billion and that express in March 2015.
I would be most surprised if Venezuela can meet that commitment. I am also surprised that this port project was not mentioned during the campaign and even pretty campaigh.
Elas Dominican government to wicked to take any k
Well the start of the Porkies season is well under way,
The only thing is pigs don’t fly
I would not hold much faith in these projects coming to fruition anytime soon. Keeping it real should be the modus operandi of the day.
Fooled Dominicans looking to Skerrit for survival, Skerrit looking to Venezuela, Venezuela is in financial crisis caused by the 15 years of misguided socialist policies and corruption of Chavez, Hugo Chavez died, Gaddafi died, Cuba now running to the USA while Skerrit burned all bridges. What Madness! What a dilemma! Dominica needs to be declared a state of emergency, a national disaster, and a crime scene. Aie Dominique!!! You are in trouble and the sad thing is, those who were in a position to save you, cried out destroy her, destroy her, destroy her
Pinard made these remarks on Kairi’s Heng Program…should we have expected any hard-hitting questions in return to his comments? Are there any media houses that would challenge these preposterous comments, and expect a reasonable response? The government of DOminica simply speaks to their base of supporters, and most Dominicans remain too politically polarized to probe and seriously consider what their officials are saying. Its shut your eyes and ears to appear supportive, instead of challenge respectfully to demand better service from those elected to serve.
Simply put, Dominica does not have a functioning free press with any teeth to extract any real or meaningful information from elected officials when they make such bizarre statements.
Dominicans are gullible. LAZY AND greedy people! a DANGEROUS MIXTURE!
You hit the nail right on the head.
Look at the screaming news headlines:
Hungry Venezuelans sleep in endless grocery lines as food shortage crisis worsens
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/048369_Venezuela_food_shortage_socialism.html#ixzz3Pfw5l8oC
Venezuelans cant find items to buy. From car batteries to toilet paper.
“The government has deployed the military to maintain order in daylong lines snaking around blocks and has implemented rationing at government-run supermarkets where prices are capped. Goods also have become harder to find on the normally thriving black market, a sign that the government is holding onto dollars earned from oil sales rather than deliver them to importers who need the money to buy merchandise. Customers hold their shopping bags of newly bought corn flour and toilet paper as they line up outside. If you want 20 things, you have to wait in 20 lines,”
http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-crisis-deepens-maduro-seeks-support-abroad-230221286.html
Go ahead, Fool the people that all is…
Exactly how it was in the old soviet union till Gorbachev set them free. How can we continue taking money from these poor people with a clear conscience, so we can fly first class and stay in 5-star hotels?
No no no….that Venezuela govt wicked…. u mean ur supermarkets are empty, shkrtages of all sorts, no toilet paper and u still finding.money to give ppl…. skerrit dem die have a conscience….
The word “funding” can be misleading. People tend to think its money “given” to us for nothing. Is this a loan from the Venezuelan Government? Did the have tenders for the project? We know only what they choose to tell us. So much for transparency
Nothing is free, a concept that Dominicans have a hard time wrapping their brains around.
That is not bab news but at this very moment people ;old ,young ,handicap and sick people are queuing up to buy food in queues of many miles long…it is better they solve that problem instead of going abroad and play zoro…in other words clean infront you doors steps first venezuela because there is a serious food cricise ,,,
but wasn’t the mahaut and massacre road recently rehabilitated. and who is the Chinese firm, name please. what about a dominican firm that can do the work.
Those governments don’t care about the people well being. All they care about is staying in power. If I was from Venezuela, I would be very angry at my government who prioritize less important things.
I have been to all the OECS countries Dominica has the smallest port, this is good news.
why should we run for a big port when the place is always closed for business.
Forkit, you are right. Sometimes the port does not even have one ship. I think the rehabilitation and expansion has more to do with the commitment that Skerrit made to China, something he could not disclose before the election because he would have lost it whether he spent $30 or $50 million. We will all be shocked when the truth comes out that Dominica has been sold.
the never said it was an expansion! its being “rehabilitated” Simply put, they are going to do repairs that are long overdue.
I don’t think for one minute that Venezuela gives us dry cash, they simply don’t have it! In any case, since we owe them for supplies of fuel, why should they give us dollars on top? I think what happens is that the Govt. deducts the cost of these projects from what we owe Venezuela and calls it development aid, calculated in U.S.$. I don’t mind but it does mean that we are paying for it anyway through the high fuel costs we are charged and which are set by our own government. That is one reason why our electricity bill are still exorbitant.
Wow inflation of 64% as friends of Venezuela i propose that we hold back on any projects from Venezuela until things get better with them, it is looking bad on us to see them in such a crisis and do nothing to help.
I don’t care what these guys say and what they do the fact still remains that Dominica is in danger of becoming worse than Haiti. Our walls have fallen and when the hope of a nation depends on Communist China and Venezuela, you know we down on our bottom. Skerrit and the DLP destroyed the foundation of the nation and we no longer have anything to turn to for survival. Venezuela is in serious trouble and cannot take care of its 30 million inhabitants, think is Dominica it can take care of. During the election all of thos candidates had cheque book writing checks for votes and the bad thing about it is, those who told me about God and Christianity, were in the east distributing corrupt money. Yet they are Evangelist, pastor, priest and bishop. The church has fallen and that’s why Dominica is in this mess. They are bought & all speak the same corrupt language. It’s so bad that the once most powerful church had to import a STV pastor, because you MUST be a Skerritite to pastor it.
I just dont get it with this corrupt government,.why do you all continue to manipulate the poor people of dominica with you lies.Venezuela is heading for a major uprising.this is all a lie Pinard,yesterday Maduro admits that his country is facing economic failure.Today all of a sudden you come with this crap.You and Skerrit will pay,this project is goin nowhere,stop fooling the damn people.
Honestly DNO, what’s really your motive for using such as a heading for your story? Aren’t you happy that Dominica is being assisted so willingly by another country who is a “true” friend to us? Is that the only way you know how to address things that are beneficial to Dominica on a whole?
Economy in tatters, Venezuela’s Maduro tells citizens ‘God will provide’
Venezuelans have been hit hard by plummeting oil prices and high inflation, and Maduro outlined no specific solutions in his highly anticipated address to the nation last night.
At a pharmacy in Caracas Thursday morning, hundreds of people stood in line hoping to get their hands on diapers and other essentials inside. Queuing up has become routine for many here, as Venezuela has struggled to pay for the import of most of its goods.
But the morning after a much-anticipated speech by Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, which had citizens hoping to hear concrete plans for a way out of the nation’s economic tailspin, many fear tougher times are on the horizon.
“We have confidence in God but not so much Maduro. He’s to blame for all this,” says Marvelis Bazque, a housewife standing in line. She’s referencing a line from the president’s speech Wednesday night, where he assured Venezuelans that despite a big…