Chief Executive Officer of the Private Sector Organization in Jamaica (PSOJ), Chartered Accountant and prominent businessman in Jamaica, Dennis Chung, has described the construction of an international airport as a “very important” necessity for Dominica.
He made that statement at a Dominica Business Forum (DBF) Luncheon held on Wednesday, June 14th at the Fort Young Hotel.
Chung stated that Jamaica has a “significant advantage” in having two international airports that ensure a constant flow of international flights moving in and out, and so in order to experience that benefit, Dominica should take a step towards building one.
“Because of our two airports we have, almost every single international flight comes in directly to Jamaica, and that’s why our tourism has grown so much. We don’t have any advantage over you (Dominica) in terms of beauty but just the access is very, very important,” Chung said.
According to him, access must not only be available for people but also for goods and he is of the view that despite the cost, it is worth it.
“It is critical and I have heard that there are some concerns over the cost of everything but it is worth it to get the people here. It really is worth it. I mean, can you imagine, I’m looking at your waterfront. It didn’t go the route that we did – we (Jamaica) ignored our waterfront, and it’s really a dump now. I just have a vision of here ( in Dominica) for tourists, 24 hours a day just walking through and shopping; that is significant money,” he said.
He added that considering all this, there is still a sense of not understanding the capabilities of particular tourist attractions which results in those attractions not being developed to fulfill their potential.
“We live in this paradise; sometimes it seems as if we take it for granted and we don’t understand the treasure that we have. I feel it is important for us as citizens to take care of it. The problem is that, as a region, we have not always done what is necessary to ensure the sustainability of paradise,” Chung stated.
He said Dominica must learn from the mistakes of Jamaica and develop aspects of the tourism industry to enhance productivity, to upkeep the environment and must also address crime.
“I see Trinidad making the same mistakes in terms of crime; it is not good, it is not pretty because it really suffocates the productivity and not to mention the emotional scars that it leaves on children. We have environmental challenges; we don’t take care of our environment,” he said.
Chung was invited to Dominica to speak at the DBF’s ‘Strengthening the Dominica Private Sector -The Jamaica Experience’ forum, which was opened to all private sector organizations in Dominica.
DNO you see Man Eat Dog attacks me again!
Admin: I hope you will not censor my response, because this idiot does not know what the hell he is talking about. In the first place the UWP was in office for less than five years; just a little over four (4 years) before Edison James called the election, which he lost!
Within that time one can count all of the valuable ventures they tackled, like building Schools, and ensure the agricultural industry was vibrant. There were poor people in Dominica, but poverty was nowhere close to what it is for the almost twenty years since Skerrit rules Dominica.
There are secondary Schools built in some Villages; without the vision of the UWP they would never be built. Pipe bourn water was taken to many villages where people had to go into some spring or gutter (stream) to get drinking water. For this man who is a jackass to say I am a liar, and UWP were crooked and corrupt, not even a understatement, it is foolishness.
He is branding the…
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He is branding the members of the UWP corrupt, but not a single one of the original member who served in government own a house or any sort of property valued over, or close to a million dollars. But. If he look carefully, he will find that all of the Labor Party past and present operatives all are millionaires owing property, and other assets their salary in politics cannot afford.
That idiot, and others like him, you allow to write fart on your site are uneducated people who all they see is the color red. Anyone who today say that the UWP was not building an International Airport in the country, probably was not born prior to the year 2000, or they were so deaf, dumb and blind they could not see or do not know, that is the nature of us Dominicans!
Roosevelt Skerrit is alive, Edison James is alive! Athie Martin is yet alive: Athie was the create of the coalition who shut the construction of Dominica International Airport down. Athie Martin was the instigator who…
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Athie Martin is yet alive: Athie was the creator of the coalition who shut the construction of Dominica International Airport down. Athie Martin was the instigator who ensured it was shut down. Leave politics out of it, and ask people like Skerrit, Athie Martin, and Edison James if I am a liar in this regard, the only way any of them could say I am a liar in this regard is if they have since become demented, and has forgotten.
The Wesley Secondary School is evidence to the fact, since it was moved from where it was originally, because it was in the flight path, plain and simple let that guy make an ass of himself if he wish but it should not be by assassinating my character, because I do not have the time to lie, I am above that!
Man Eat Dog, shut up your argument are all made up garbage, lies nothing more than filth, feces!
junior minister Roosevelt Skerrit shut it down.
The government of Trinidad & Tobago undertook 80% of the cost. The government of China, and Tawin contributed money too.
The contractors and engineers was in Dominica going along with the construction, when the coalition government (Labor Party and Freedom) party said “we doh want it, Antigua and Barbados have one already.” They said “becides they could get one built for fraction of what the UWP was spending to build it.” those words were spoken by Ian Douglas!
There is a vast difference in a proposal, and something that was already in motion. The Wesley Secondary School was part of the project, Athie even tried to screw that up also. In that Athie demanded that the remove the sixth form college from the school; when he was ask why, he informed the contractor ” because we already have one in Roseau!”
There is always one somewhere else which prevents Dominica from getting its own!
Ismale I was directing this one to you but I must have screwed up, and half of my comments got lost, while editing, that is why I do not always edit. All of this should come before “junior minister”.
Anyway the most important thing I need to convey to you is that there is a vast difference in a proposal, or something proposed!
Proposed is defined as something talked about!
Proposal is defined as an act of putting forward or stating for consideration. The UWP led by Edison James went beyond talking; the International Airport was reality, until the coalition government led by the late Roosevelt Rosie Douglas shut it down okay!
You can hold Athie Martin, Ambrose George, the little boy Skerrit who was a junior minister then responsible for shutting down the construction, and then chased the people from Trinidad who was building it out of Dominica. It was not only a talk about with the UWP!
They were building it!
@ Francisco ,You are talking Rubbish Rubbish Rubbish lies lies lies, get back to hell and it’s time you guys realise Workers minority Cult following party, Will never win another general election in Dominica again we will not be fool again. Also we will never forgive Workers criminals party for the way you lots destroy our Dominica, with all that fraudulent activities of public funds. We are not going to get stones and come back for more………
Yes, we need a Jet capable airport. The question has always been the financing of such a facility.
“we need a Jet capable airport.”(Roseau River).
I know the words written above are common in the vocabulary of Dominicans. Nevertheless, I hate to inform you that there is no such thing as a “Jet Port” as Dominicans say, nor do we have anything such as a “Jet capable airport.”
Anytime we are talking about a commercial Jet Aircraft, we should know they are associated with International Airport. The difference in an International Airport and any of the two in Dominica, is the length, and width of the Runway!
I iterate there is no such thing as a “jet port, nor a jet capable airport.” What we have in Dominica are municipals airports design to accommodate a certain size of aircraft.
Mr Chung well versed man….. food for thought…….
To Dominica, an international airport is a want vs. a need. Same reason most of us have a car. We don’t need the car because we can get around by bus or taxi for much less money than buying, maintaining and insuring a car. We buy a car because it is a convenience. It is nice to have. An international airport will bring in direct flights from major countries but it will come at a major financial cost. So is it a want or a need?
You obviously missed the point he was making. Read again
Try going from roseau to portsmouth on foot. Yeah that’s right it doesn’t sound too good right? You definitely need a vehicle. Ok now trying going from portsmouth to roseau with a suitcase and a sidebag but you have to stop in salisbury then colihaut to get a different bus each time. Sound like something you’d choose to do? I bet it doesn’t unless your masochistic.
And granted your analogy makes sense but it’s from the wrong perspective. It’s not that you need the vehicle for yourself, it’s that you need to have a vehicle so you can get customers to and from your business quicker and more “conveniently”. Sure you can tell them to walk to get to your place but if there are buses taking them directly to other business places you can bet that the majority of customers will go there instead.
We think to conservatively in DA. We need to look at the bigger picture…where do we want this country to be in the next 5,10,15, 20 years. This should be what really drives our dicesion making process. Virtually everywhere in the world, one has to spend money to make money
They say ignorance is bliss; I say when people are ignorant, they talk all sort of crap in order to satisfy, and justify their own personal lack of ambition, and backwardness!
You exist in the twenty-first century, yet your perception of life seems to date back to the common era! Your thinking are beneath that of the stone age people, and even at that when they thought of a better way of living, and not transporting the load on their heads, and back; like beast of burdens, they invented the wheel.
Your rhetoric you need to counsel in your mind, you are stupid; and such foolish notions can only contaminate the mind of many people in the country who’s minds are fragile.
If you want to ride the buss forever, because it is cheap; it was also cheap for people when they sleep on dirt floor’s and under trash roof even in the 1940’s in Dominica. If you wish to return to that life style that is your privilege, but stop talking crap about cost of building an International Airport!…
There is a financial reality with an international airport and that’s a fact. Given our poor history of maintaining infrastructure on the island, there is cause for concern. Given that fact, we should have long since relocated Melville Hall as UWP had proposed and extend the airport over time as demand grows. A short haul narrow body jet with direct flight service to Dominica would have been a great start. Unfortunately, our visionaries were too dumb to think in such a logical manner.
There are many pros and cons. After this round of CBI spending, grow the CBI again and: Build It, They Will Come!
Wait but I thought we didn’t need an international airport according to the labor party government.
nice everyday more funny things…how can such heavily indebted nation with the most murky financial reporting system and absence of any reliable statistics …how it can afford massive investment into airport? Its nonsense…Dominicans cannot manage a normal hospital or have a capacity to open cinema or modern ferry terminal…or even to clean Roseau properly. You are joker bro…its the same realistic project as to build an orbital station in Jamaica.
thumb up my brothers.you are sooooo right.
Thank you for your help my people are going to to listen they are to damage backwards
Hardly inspirational. Why an international airport when we are surrounded by them ? Why make future generations of Dominicans live under a cloud of such debt ? Surely a self-financing small fleet of aircraft is a much better idea ? Nature Island Airways flying between Dominica and San Juan, St Martin, Antigua, Barbados – and doing it cheaply and efficiently, picking up passengers from international flights and bringing them here the same day. All of it under our control. It would be unique, less expensive and quite simply awesome. Think outside the box people !!! We don’t need advice from people like this, we should be taking a fresh, new approach to things. We are the nature island; we’re not jamaica or anyone else, and we don’t want to be, thanks very much !!
Fools like u ,that’s the problem . No vision.
Why depend on other countries,when we can do it ourselves. It’s not just about bringing people ,it’s about commerce, self sufficiency , freedom of travel and growth.
What planet are you from? Seriously ??? . Can’t believe you are so dense.
In that case, there’s also a class of 737 (I believe) that is big enough to make the flight between South Florida and DOM, but small enough to land there. Government shouldn’t be in the airline business at all, but if it is then something like that or like what you describe would make more sense than subsidising LIAT.
Subsidising LIAT is got the be the way. LIAT is part of our heritage. A jumbo jet is America’s and see where that got them – Donald Trump!!!
You probably haven’t travelled much if you think being able to take a direct flight into the country is not something to be sought after. Not everyone likes the idea of having to hop planes also consider the amount of problems that entails, delayed flights, missing luggage, having to check in multiple times. Differences in weight restrictions when changing airlines (mostly because of plane size which is why again we need infrastructure that can handle bigger planes). There’s a reason why we are surrounded by international airports. If they were not worth it everybody and their dog except for backwards Dominica wouldn’t bother wasting money to build them.
hhmmm . .
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I can’t see the reason for so many thumbs down to this idea
“Nature Island Airways flying between Dominica and San Juan, St Martin, Antigua, Barbados – and doing it cheaply and efficiently, picking up passengers from international flights and bringing them here the same day. All of it under our control. It would be unique, less expensive and quite simply awesome.”
We NEED a REAL hospital 1st Mr. Chung.
I think you may be Actually Dominican Sir; due to the manner in which you put de cart infant de horse we
none sense, we doh need an international airport, once we can get people in the same day. our pm say we doh need it.
Dno please, enuff talk about international airport. Did Mr. Chung said anything about agriculture?
As if we need someone to tell us how dumb we are for staying in the dark for so long , it’s unreal .
Can’t imagine how far we would have been ,having this airport. We still in the ice age it seems.
I will personally vote Skerit if that airport come to pass.
And I will have no problem if he name it after him , but until then.
Govt is just a waste of time, past ,present and inbetween.
Let’s hope the future will be brighter .
Hello Mr Chang, I’m very impressed with the advices you have given to us but again we have some idiots every morning this guys goes to the toilet most of their brains flush down the toilet, so i would not take any more notice off that mob may Satan be with them.
I was asking a duncecat that very question last week as to whether he thinks that Dominica needed an international airport. His response was, “only labourites think we don’t need it”.
Only now the support for this lazy government is falling, the government is now trying to stay afloat with the promise of the airport once again!!
I rest my case!!!
Amen, amen and amen.