Blackmoore warns about returning to Petite Savanne

A scene in Petite Savanne two years after Erika

Minister of Justice, Immigration and National Security Rayburn Blackmoore has warned residents of Petite Savanne who may be reconsidering moving back to that community to consider their safety.

The community was severely affected by Tropical Storm Erika August 27, 2015 and residents had to be evacuated from that community which was deemed unsafe.

“I believe that it is not healthy, it is not wise that if a place is vulnerable and of course if a place is declared as a disaster area and efforts are being made by the state to provide for you in terms of housing and in terms of other services, I think the wise thing to do is to work with the state because it is all about your welfare and your safety,” he said.

He stated that the safety of the residents is paramount.

“I believe your safety first starts with your ability to recognize that you have a responsibility to keep yourself safe,” he stated.

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48 Comments

  1. Educationist
    September 1, 2017

    Why didn’t the DLP Government not spend the money on making Petite Savanne a safer place to inhabit? The large sum of money spent at Bellevue Chopin could go a long way in making Petite Savanne more resistant to the impacts of Storms like Erika.

    By the way Mr. Blackmore isn’t Campbell also designated a disaster area? If so why are Campbell residents not asked to vacate the Campbell community? Guess what? Dominica is a disaster area. We are prone to Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Flooding and volcanic eruption . What we can do is take mitigatory actions. Monserrat people are surviving for many years with an Active volcano. Let us bring back Petite Savanne. Abandon the areas that are inhabitable and take actions to protect the areas that are habitable. Engineering is the key to restoring Petite Savanne back to its glory days

  2. Country Man
    August 31, 2017

    No place in Dominica is fully safe. We have several active Volcanoes and we are prone to earthquakes and hurricanes that can create the same situation in several other communities on island. the last time I check it Dominica is hills and valleys.
    What we need is better disaster preparedness strategies and evacuation plans.

    It is totally unbelievable that the Gov’t does not see this as a priority. We have to expect and plan for more severe storms

  3. Primrosette
    August 31, 2017

    all the folks who died and lost homes, if a geologist had warned them before that the village was prone to that magnitude of disaster they would never have moved to save their lives. Human are materialistic. they care more for the “things” that for their life. Dominicans never learn, they die without learning from past mistakes. Go live in your beloved village and next time the rain falls all night perish. You will die happy.

  4. Mamosa
    August 31, 2017

    Let the people return at their own risk.
    After Hurricane David nowhere was safe; and look at Dominica today. David is a distant memory.

    You have to ask yourselves, is Petite Savanne earmarked for something else?.

  5. No Face
    August 31, 2017

    Blackmore while you are at it, why don’t you tell the people of Petit Savanne when will their rent be paid. Landlords are notifing them of unpaid rents for 2 months now.

    • Woy
      August 31, 2017

      This question/comment is so hilarious. I really wish I had someone to ask this very question. ……koohoom koohomm.. Em em.. sounds like some people need to find themselves some work to do.

  6. UDOHREADYET
    August 30, 2017

    I agree, its just that these are country people and they’re not used to living in Town or depending on other people. i think they visit now and then because they displaced , their new homes are not yet fully constructed. No one will stay there its too dangerous and also there are no services or facilities.

    • Anonymous
      August 31, 2017

      Honestly, the fake Dr. deserves supporters like you. You lack any empathy man and I pity you.

  7. bobos
    August 30, 2017

    bellvue getting more rain than petite savanne and also bellvue was named a disaster zone by one of our priministers

  8. mikez
    August 30, 2017

    bellvue do have river ,no sea to fish ,no bayleaf to make oil and no playing field

  9. Gouti
    August 30, 2017

    Blackmore is not an engineer, but which of you is god. Sometimes I wonder why you people give consultancy to determine safety of P Savanne to an engineer instead of a geologist?

  10. megso
    August 30, 2017

    By the same token, should they abandon Houston in Texas? Is it safe there?
    Does anyone else remember what the American General suggested when He first saw the devastation after Hurricane David? His suggestion was that the island be abandoned.

  11. Lenovo
    August 30, 2017

    While I sincerely believe that the Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet were shell-shocked at the disaster wreaked by TS Ericka and hence his decision to declare the community of Petite Savanne “unlivable”, I however believe that human beings are resilient in the face of disaster. We have examples of Japan. Japan was hit by two U.S. bombs in 1945. Several earthquakes, floods. Yet the people remain. And flourish at that!

    Who is to say that Petite Savanne will ever experience a disaster of this magnitude once again? I say, let it be an individual choice for the residents of Petite Savanne. These people have a bond with their community. Their ancestors have lived there for generations fishing, making bay oil etc.

    TL;DR : If the Petite Savanne people want to go back to their homes, let them go.

    • FORKIT
      August 31, 2017

      everything skerrit does is about, self praise, more votes, and always have some sinister plan behind his actions. and those tebeah of ministers never question him, they simply say praise god for him. dominica jesus

  12. FORKIT
    August 30, 2017

    there is an old saying, one fool always admires another. dominica chief engineer, one man Roosevelt skerrit with no investigative engineering studies done on that village deemed it not fit for living and his minion blackmoore is giving full support… dominica is really a fools paradise

    • Dominican passports
      August 30, 2017

      I don’t support skerrit everybody knows that from my comments, but you don’t need a chief Engineer to know that petite Savanne becomes a mud pit when it gets too much rain.

      • FORKIT
        August 31, 2017

        idiotic comment.. dominica don’t have mud pits..

  13. TeteMorne I From
    August 30, 2017

    I understand where Mr. Blackmore is coming from, but, I also feel for and understand why Ti Savanne people yearn for their beloved home. I left my village many years ago, and, never got over her. Home is where the heart is. My heart will ALWAYS be in Montin; always have, always been. I feel bad for those people. I really do. The decision ultimately is theirs to make.

    • Primrosette
      August 30, 2017

      And the decision not to put your life at risk to save them the next time is also yours to make

      • Mother
        August 30, 2017

        Of course Primrosette, that is the beauty of living in a free country. This is not N. Korea where the govt. regulates everything for you incl. where you live.

  14. Chalks Corriette
    August 30, 2017

    I would also advise that you go and get some up-to-date images – Petite Svanne looks nothing like these images today. If is a beautiful and tranquil area.

    • Primrosette
      August 30, 2017

      It was very tranquil looking before Erika,.look how many lives lost. MAterial things should never come before your life.

      • Lenovo
        August 30, 2017

        You are just looking at the negatives. Look at the positives and have a positive mind-set. Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, it is said.

    • Waiting on God
      August 30, 2017

      so true…..dem fellas there want to find a way to hold that place for themselves……trick they playing…I doh trust them on bit

  15. Chalks Corriette
    August 30, 2017

    Thank you for the message. What the people from Petite Savanne are looking for is some stronger leadership and some transparency. Despite many requests, no one has been given any written proof of a strcutural problem, today, in the area; no one have been given a formal government notice on official paper, no one has an offical paper stating what they should do or if they have a house in Bellvue and under what conditions.

    This whole thing has been poorly dealt with and if officials want citizens to heed thier words, they need to follow expected protocol, and show some respect for what people have left in Petite Savanne. I have just burried my father there and I will vist his grave. Please can this be dealt with properly – no more threats and cowboy administrations.

    • Zor Sot
      August 30, 2017

      EXCELLENT POST!!!!! That’s where the main problem lies…. yet others scream down these people’s decision to return to the only home they know!!!!

      • Me
        August 30, 2017

        A house I not a home, and home is where your heart is.

    • google
      August 30, 2017

      If you were to pass some other areas in Dominica after TsErika you could count the number of landslides(7-10) average, HOWEVER at Petite Savanne you there was were just too many. Who knows how many people missing and just BURIED by landslides. The problem is that the area has just became unsafe to reside. I have no problem with farmers going there to plant their crops and harvesting their Bay leaves – it is what they have known all their lives.
      They can even spend a weekend there as a little getaway, but it is dangerous as a residential area.

  16. Tall is her body
    August 30, 2017

    Hummmmmm I don’t know, I think if you guys give homes or land maybe they will leave but the government is building a project like # geto for the people

    • Anonymous
      August 30, 2017

      Amen, for a start, in spite of its name does the Bellevue development have a beautiful ocean view like Petite Savane,?

  17. charles
    August 29, 2017

    i understand where blackmoore is coming from and they should really leave. but the problem is that most of them dont want to. they even saying they going to rent the apartments when they get them. or they will go there for weekend. apartments which other needy people could profit from. if they cannot be convinced to live there they shouldnt be given a key. and how about the dual property thing? how does that work? do they have to give up thier homes in tsavanne to accept the new one?

  18. The Rolling Stone PM
    August 29, 2017

    So Blackmoore with all what you said an I to conclude that Dr. Darroux is no longer the parl rep of petite Savanne, since the place has been deemed dangerous and the people have been relocated to another constituency? Are we to conclude that we no longer have 21 constituencies in Dominica, since one has been relocated?
    You guys are just saying a piece here and there but no one dealing with the real issues

    • DLP STRATEGIST
      August 30, 2017

      Bellevue is in the same P Savanne constituency. More votes for us pardner

    • Primrosette
      August 30, 2017

      The constituency is not only Petit Savanne think before you speak

  19. DomiChina
    August 29, 2017

    Blackmnore, you can’t tell the people who own land in the country what to do with their land. Justice and Immigration Matters concern foreign migrants entering the country, not those that decide to use what they own in the country to make ends meet. My God, Blackmore want to run people from their land to sell it to Monfared brother.

    The Government is doing nothing to try develop the people to their original state. instead you all look for ways in which you can benefit from under the table bucks.

    Shame on the administration of the Commonwealth of Dominica. This Government has brought the country to dire international shame, and its just surprising how many DLP supporters are so blinded by the works of poverty. Woe to those that call good evil and evil good. but blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.

    The country is crying out for help and I just don’t understand why so many brilliant dominican people allow 13 crazy folk to steer them into…

  20. Donald_Trump_IQ_156
    August 29, 2017

    I think the wise thing to do is to work with the state because it is all about your welfare and your safety,” he said. Welfare State is Communism 101. Let people live there lives independently and held responsiblefor themselves even if they return, the state should leave us ALONE!

  21. August 29, 2017

    I understand that the people worked hard for all they had back there but the place is not safe.

    • Me
      August 30, 2017

      Is Roseau safe?

    • Anon
      August 30, 2017

      Ever been to Vielle Case? Is it safe?

  22. August 29, 2017

    Let us all regard the counsel of the authorities. What happened in the village was greater than expected. Better safe than sorry.

  23. Anon
    August 29, 2017

    Ya but plans should have already been put in place to ID safe areas and at least let those who want to go back do so, at least in the safe areas. After all, these are people who were largely self-sufficient, farming, bay oil producers, how are many going to feed their families. Relying on the state has not gone well for them so far. It will in the long term be more efficient for some to return to farm etc and feed their families. Think Rayborn Think ahead. Engineers are not God.

  24. The Darkness
    August 29, 2017

    Blackmoore… anything you say is pure bull… I do not subscribe to it anymore… Your words are similar to that of the US… spins and lies…

    Mister “do you know who I am” Blackmoore. You will never live down this condescending statement of yours.

    Think you better than people still.

  25. Anonymous
    August 29, 2017

    Blackmoore what have you got against these people who want return to their properties. Yes, they know the risks but it is their choice after all. Instead of being cooped up at the mercy of the state these people want to make their own way. Yes, you have assisted as any government should but please do not obstruct them in their choice

    • Primrosette
      August 30, 2017

      Anonymous, Blackmore problem is not the people returning, his problem is the resources and people we will need to save them again. I he declares his ministry will not take part in the even of another disaster in this area you will sing a different song.

  26. August 29, 2017

    The area is very dangerous. Not advisable to live there. Sometimes we have to understand and accept change. Petite Savanne is disaster prone, we have to accept that.

    • Toto
      August 30, 2017

      Miles if that is your argument we should evacuate the whole of Dominica because it sits on five active volcanoes. People take their chances, that is their right.

  27. August 29, 2017

    I am so with you on this Minister Blackmoore. I don’t care what anyone says, the place was deemed unsafe and a disaster area. So I cannot for the life of me understand why people would want to move back. Safety first my people!

    • Me
      August 30, 2017

      Why vote for Skerrit if you believe in safety first?

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