Skerrit: Dominica well poised to export water to the international community

Skerrit

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has said Dominica is prepared to provide water to countries around the world in need of such a valuable resource.

In an interview with South-South News’ Allan Capper in New York last month, Skerrit said Dominica has an abundance of water and has the capacity to export millions of water on a daily basis.

“We have the capacity to export millions of gallons of water on a daily basis. We are self-sufficient in water. There are no desalination plants in Dominica. It is purely surface water. We have millions and millions of gallons of underground water that we have not touched at all. It is there and we have the capacity to export,” Skerrit said.

He added: “There are, in fact, facilities at every one of our ports in Dominica to be able to supply the ships. We supply the cruise ships with fresh water that come into the region at present and as well as the cargo vessels which pass through our parts. But in terms of selling our water to the US or the Middle East or to China, we have the capacity to do that. I believe the international community,  as we have started to give attention to it, more or less looking at where are the sources of water, where are the challenges, we can see how we can work together.”

The Prime Minister is of the opinion that Dominica has a moral obligation to the rest of the world. He said it’s not largely an economic interest but rather an opportunity to share such a resource which is in abundant in Dominica with other countries in need.

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17 Comments

  1. badvibes
    April 12, 2011

    Am with u PM….It’s high time we turn water into money…..

  2. River Street
    April 11, 2011

    Dance a yard before you dance overbroad. Mr. Prlme minister great idea but what a pipe dream. Let’s face it sounds great but if we can’t provide an adequate supply of potable asolidwater to Dominicans or constant water pressure to local cosumers, but ……… for such a project alot more is required in developing much better piping and storage system. Proper filtration also a must. O

  3. Sphynx
    April 11, 2011

    Mr.PM you know the saying: action speaks louder than words;but this is a good plan.be strong and push on.

  4. DESIE
    April 11, 2011

    I BELIEVE IN THAT IDEA
    I JUST HOPE IF IT GETS OFF THE GROUND THEY WILL TAKE THE PROFITS
    TO PAY WORKERS AND NOT DEEPENING SOLELY ON THE PROFITS FROM THE LOCALS,
    SO AT THAT TIME THEY WILL LOWER OUR BILLS BY 50%

  5. de caribbean change, BBA, MBA, CPA
    April 11, 2011

    That’s our oil, and we should be making millions of dollars every year just like the oil countries making all that oil money.. Water is just as and even more important than oil.

  6. sanjoy
    April 11, 2011

    So dominician going to pay 30% on water there is more to come no raise on salary Prime Minister putting all the millions in his pocket time alone will tell sets of wicked as all u are

  7. The truth
    April 11, 2011

    Meant to say that water is more expensive than oil in Saudi

  8. The truth
    April 11, 2011

    I am sitting here right now with a girl from saudi Arabia reading this article. She is telling me right this minute that water is cheaper than oil in Saudi. My question is this… Can we not strike a deal with Saudi where we supply water and receive oil? At least at a discount. That would pave the way for cheap airline tickets and cheaper petrol, if we can convert it anyway. Water is what we should have been exporting from day one, since before banana, yet it is something we still here struggling to market although it is easier to package, access and deliver than banana. Not to mention longer lasting. We need to get out priorities absolutely correct, not that I am saying bananas should not be exported. Anyway, I wish to see us exporting water in abundance sooner than later. Especially since the world, especially china is desperate for water

    • The truth
      April 11, 2011

      Meant to say there that water is more expensive than oil in Saudi

  9. only
    April 11, 2011

    We are so water self-sufficient Mr PM that DWASCO has to the cut the water supply off all the time when it rains or when they are repairing or replacing pipes and they need to increase the rates so that we have to pay more. Something isn’t right with this picture. More talk. Much ado about nothing.
    Supplying the cruise ships or other vessels pulling into DA, as you have been doing for years, is about as far as it is going to go, especially now that oil prices are going up.

  10. Truth, Justice, Love, Peace and Unity
    April 11, 2011

    Considering how much water Dominica is blest with. All this water from the rivers flow into the sea. The sea is a stagnant source of salt water. This salt water may be absorbed by the heat of the sun. The river water probably replenishes the sea water in addition to rain water. Just thinking and stating what crossed my mind. Therefore, it is a good idea to sell river water to other countries in order to amass revenue.
    However, I have noted that Dominicans will be paying higher cost for water. It does not make sense to me with all that water in Dominica and selling water to cruise ships and to other countries that the cost of supplying water to resident Dominicans should be increased.
    This is why I will never comprehend how economics work as well as governments. I will not waste my God-given time to try to comprehend them.

  11. LIES AND MORE LIES
    April 11, 2011

    The Prime Minister is of the opinion that Dominica has a moral obligation to the rest of the world. He said it’s not largely an economic interest but rather an opportunity to share such a resource which is in abundant in Dominica with other countries in need.

    Ok let us put that to the other Countries with over flowing resources, how many of them are sending oil to dominica to help out as a moral obligation. PM please just be honest to the people, please.

  12. follower
    April 11, 2011

    Just last week water increased by 15%, yet the Prime Minister is telling the world we have a moral obligation to the rest of the world and that it’s not largely an ecconomic interest but to share what we have in abundance. What a poor sales pitch! The middle east have a lot of oil but to the best of my knowledge, they don’t export because they have a moral obligation. They do so for ecconomic reasons and the same can be said of anything we export from any part of the world. Water is what God has blessed us with and therefore we should not feel embarassed to make a sale pitch.

  13. Muslim_Always
    April 11, 2011

    This is a thought in the right direction Mr. Skerrit. We hope the day we can get it off the ground and our middle class and poor people in this country particularly can benefit from the resources.

    When man starts to see millions of dollars, the elites like to hoard all the wealth.

    • stupes
      April 11, 2011

      I think that if we were to “get off the ground” from the sale of our resources at the expense of no longer having such a resource for future generations defeats the purpose.

      • Muslim_Always
        April 11, 2011

        No wonder we are a ‘third’ world country. It’s the thoughts some of you people project. We are not saying that we must sell at the expense of our future generations but we have so many rivers down here, why not tap into that?

  14. pedro
    April 11, 2011

    In theory we have the potential. In practice we can’t make use of it. Marketing is almost non-existent. Facilities to deal with different configurations of connections, logistics of shipping etc are not in place. Effective operations that does not interfere with current consumer demand is another. Do you remember what happened when we tried to deliver to our sister island st. lucia last time? What became of Athie’s project? What about that bulk water catchment set up at Padu from the days of the Freedom Party by Dowasco for bulk export? Can Dowasco tell us how much of this bulk water available at Newtown has been exported over the years? How is it marketed?

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