Progress Report: Dominica Climate Resilience Project

Guiste is the project's coordinator
Guiste is the project’s coordinator

Dominica is well on its way to building resilience against the negative impact of climate change.

In December 2013, Government announced that Dominica had received $103-million from the World Bank’s Climate Investment Fund to implement Government’s Strategic Programme for Climate Resilience (SPCR).

That fund is part soft loan and part grant.

Dominica is one of six nations in the region to pilot the World Bank’s Programme for Climate Resilience.

This Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience or PPCR assists developing countries to integrate climate resilience with development planning, building on national adaptation programmes of action and other existing efforts.

GIS News spoke with Colin Guiste, Project Coordinator, to get details of the project and establish Dominica’s progress with implementation.

Guiste explained that the project will see the implementation of four major components: civil works; data management; emergency contingency response, and the general management of the project.

The civil works aspect involves the rehabilitation of four major and most vulnerable road networks on the island: Pond Case to Bois Diable; Bois Diable to Castle Bruce; Castle Bruce to Petite Soufriere and Castle Bruce to Hatton Garden through the Kalinago Territory.

“We expect to undertake some slope stabilization in areas where we expect landslides,” he said.

He added that guard rails will be erected and storm drains constructed based on feasibility studies. Dated culverts will also be replaced by capacity-appropriate ones and bridges constructed in some areas.

Guiste explains that the terms of references and feasibility studies are still being developed for submission and approval by the World Bank before physical work can begin.

The Project Coordinator also detailed the data management aspect of the project.

He said a consultant was on island in January 2015 to assess Dominica’s capacity to process meteorological data.

This consultant is expected on island again in March to present the findings and propose solutions.

The third component, the emergency contingency response plan, involves creating a list of suppliers of key items that will help Dominica quickly recover after a major disaster.

These items include construction equipment, building material and medical supplies.

Guiste informed that key items and suppliers have been identified and the project management team is in the process of completing this list.

The Project Coordinator anticipates that major physical work will begin by 2016.

The project which began in August 2014 will last for six years.

The process for attracting funding commenced with the development of Government’s Strategic Programme for Climate Resilience.

This plan, developed by the Ministry of Environment, headed by Hon. Dr. Kenneth Darroux, was presented to the World Bank in 2012. The plan serves as a blueprint to deal with climate change nationally.

Hon. Darroux says, “The entire plan may seem costly and unnecessary but the issue of climate change should be top priority for Small Island Developing States like Dominica.”

Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.

Disclaimer: The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of DominicaNewsOnline.com and its parent company or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by DominicaNewsOnline.com. We never censor based on political or ideological points of view, but we do try to maintain a sensible balance between free speech and responsible moderating.

We will delete comments that:

  • contain any material which violates or infringes the rights of any person, are defamatory or harassing or are purely ad hominem attacks
  • a reasonable person would consider abusive or profane
  • contain material which violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law
  • promote prejudice or prejudicial hatred of any kind
  • refer to people arrested or charged with a crime as though they had been found guilty
  • contain links to "chain letters", pornographic or obscene movies or graphic images
  • are off-topic and/or excessively long

See our full comment/user policy/agreement.

11 Comments

  1. anonymous2
    March 4, 2015

    I guess that you haven’t checked the geo-engineering, common name chemtrails that have been plaguing the skies and the constant weather changes and the hanging contrails left by planes in the sky. That is what is contributing at least 50% to the climate change, the chemicals like aluminum oxides, Barium oxides, Strontium, nano-plastics, etc. that are changing the atmosphere around the earth. In 20 yrs. no one will be able to breathe and the sun will no longer shine on the earth if this isn’t stopped soon.

  2. alas
    March 3, 2015

    Some time ago last year i heard an announcement about a road project
    That gardahkan won with regard to the road from pond case to
    Point milarte or was it Bois Diable to Point Milarte
    Anyway de announcement was aired.
    Now i am reading here that major physical work will begin by 2016.
    Please clarify.
    I have been hearing about this climate resilience project since 2013.
    Sometimes i does feel so stupid and lost with the way project are administered
    In my country…….leaving too much room for speculation.
    There are tradesmen out there looking for work.
    De pond case to marigot road is whatever….
    If i am frustrated to the point where i leave this country for the second time
    In my life there is NO WAY IN HELL i am ever returning.
    Besides the fact that I have children out there it appears that the government
    Is encouraging me to follow the csme program, get a skills certificate and get
    De hell out of my country and go look for work elsewhere.
    After 15 yrs in power…

    • viewsexpressed
      December 1, 2016

      Good Luck Mr Alas… I feel your pain, we all feel it.
      Lazy Labour Government. Inept PM. Blind followers.

  3. Malgraysa
    March 3, 2015

    – The announcement was made by Govt. in Dec. 2014 and not in Dec. 2013 and is based on a Worldbank report, no. PAD 659 of 2 April, 2014, which inter alia also states that Dominica has unsustainable debt levels, due to poor fiscal management. You can ascertain that for yourself as the document is freely available on-line.
    – The custodian of this exercise is Harold Guiste, not Colin Guiste, who at the time was P.S. in the Ministry of the Environment (his telephone no. is listed in the report as 266-3238).
    Why he subsequently was moved to another Ministry rather than oversee the execution of this vital programme is a matter for conjecture, the reasons best known to the powers that be.

    • LawieBawie
      March 3, 2015

      I see that you have taken an opportunity to elaborate more on another issue regarding debt than on the intended subject of this article. We cannot argue that the debt doesn’t exist, but I just can’t see the point of constantly trying to show Dominica in a bad light. Man that must be very exhausting. It doesn’t matter what political perspective you hold, the bottom line is that this is our country and we have to be proud of our own. I am glad that we are not all of one accord politically because that is never good for any State, but our goal must always be to build rather than destroy this country, irrespective of our political ideas, affiliations or aspirations which by the way we are entitled to. Just saying.

      • Titiwi
        March 4, 2015

        Lawie garcon, you really are po-faced aren’t you? Malgraysa is only the messenger of the report put out by the worldbank, which really says in polite words that our economy has been mismanaged. Are you the only one who refuses to see that the emperor has no clothes?

      • viewsexpressed
        December 1, 2016

        You are out of focus. Read the article again.

  4. hmmm
    March 3, 2015

    lol you think you can control the climate LOL

    • LawieBawie
      March 3, 2015

      Who said that they are trying to control the climate? It is not about trying to control climate because that would be impossible. Rather, it is about mitigating against the effects of climate change such as the increased frequency of hurricanes, floods earthquakes and other natural phenomena. Most importantly, it is about building resilience to these shocks and being able to bounce back quickly afterwards.

      • anonymous2
        March 4, 2015

        The “authorities” like Gore have you brainwashed. There is a natural climate change that occurs. The bankers want to tax everyone and everything for CO2 emissions, that includes people and animals. You have heard of the “carbon tax.”? And yes, they do have the means at this point to control the weather. They do it all the time and most people haven’t got a clue………they think that the way the clouds are in the sky are natural. Most of them are not these day.

    • nigel
      March 3, 2015

      The aim is not to control climate. Everyone knows you cant control climate but to reduce the impact of climate changes in the country

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

:) :-D :wink: :( 8-O :lol: :-| :cry: 8) :-? :-P :-x :?: :oops: :twisted: :mrgreen: more »

 characters available