Local contractors have been promised “a slice of the cake” as far as projects are concerned.
“As far as this government is concerned, empowerment of local contractors is our priority and we will continue to ensure that whatever projects we are doing in Dominica the local contractors, the local service providers will have a slice of the cake and we are very firm on this,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit gave this guarantee during his weekly talk show recently.
He said the homes that were recently built in Wesley were all constructed by local contractors and pointed to the further utilization of local contractors in the construction of health centres.
Skerrit continued, “We are about to start some housing intervention in several communities. We will be using 74 local contractors to build homes. I’m not talking about the roads yet, I’m not talking about the drainage yet.”
According to the Prime Minister, the vast majority of local contractors receive government contracts.
“We started the geothermal project and the first person who has gotten a contract is a local contractor. ACE Engineering, but people don’t say these things. They remain quiet and all you hear is local contractors are not getting this, local contractors are not getting that,” Skerrit remarked. “But if we were to be honest to ourselves in Dominica, the reality is the vast majority of people get the contracts.”
He explained that in the contract world there are certain conditionalities.
“If you are going to get a contract for $80,000, you must be able to put a performance bond, either cash or financial instrument at a designated bank, because that’s how the international contracts operate and sometimes our local contractors do not qualify for this,” Skerrit stated.
He said for example under the housing projects to be done in communities including Soufriere, Woodford Hill, Paix Bouche, Canefield, Eggleston and Scottshead, in order to ensure that local contractors from these communities qualified, the contracts had to be broken down into parts, “because one may not have the financial means to put a bond into the bank to build 20 homes or 16 homes.”
“We are able to empower contractors through that means,” he said. “That’s how we are going to be doing it.”
More empty words and potential lies from a struggling and incompetent Wannabe Politicians.
@Telemaque, I believe you completely misunderstood the point I was trying to make regarding the payment for goods and services. I was simply advocating for fiscal discipline in that an individual, business or government should always try to get the best value for monies being spent.
That doesn’t amount to ripping off anyone to achieve that goal. I believe in the payment of a fair price for all goods and services. I am also a firm believer that all men shall eat and may I add, EAT WELL, not crumbs or leftovers therefore trying to accuse me of taking advantage of the poor man is simply not me. On the contrary, I am known to pay extra (bonus/tip) once the work is to my satisfaction.
I used an electrician in my scenario but could have used a brick layer, plumber or a carpenter in that very same scenario.
Please note that I also said someone with a “compatible skill set” since I always compare apples to apples when determining an individual’s compensation.
You small companies with backhoes right in Roseau South area. You taking a company all the way from Bense to do excavation work for the Eggleston housing project when Eggleston itself have a backhoe company. Why not give them a slice of the cake?
We, the native Dominica born are perhaps the most ignorant people on the planet earth, or the more tolerant and upholders of corruption.
How can Dominicans be satisfied seeing Roosevelt sitting their talking bull crap about promise Dominicans piece of the pie!
The whole damn pie belongs to Dominica contractors, laborers, fly’s cats, and dogs born in the country! This man Roosevelt is a curse on our country, and should be removed from power, by any means necessary; Roosevelt must be overthrown!
Indeed the pie will be divided; the master thief and colleagues will get the larger piece of the pie, the master thief will find a way to grab most of it, while his lap-dogs will fight and murder each other for the rest; how can a people tolerate such corruption:
After the event which spread so much COVID-19 due to some wife greed for money, why should people still tolerate the man and his family!
We should take a page from the British!
London, January 14 (RHC)– In Britain, some senior members of Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party are calling on the prime minister to step down, after Johnson admitted he attended a cocktail party at his official residence in May 2020 at a time when he’d ordered the U.K. into a strict coronavirus lockdown.
Opposition parties also demanded Johnson resign. Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer said: “After months of deceit and deception, the pathetic spectacle of a man who has run out of road. His defense that he didn’t realize he was at a party is so ridiculous that it’s actually offensive to the British public.
He’s finally been forced to admit what everyone knew, that when the whole country was locked down, he was hosting boozy parties in Downing Street. Is he now going to do the decent thing and resign?”
@Francisco, I certainly agreed with you on one thing but not as you said about Pm.Skerrit, l am talking about ugly Lenny,
If that man so-called opposition leader was a politician in London or Europe he would be in jail a long time ago not just him but many from that so-called UWP criminals organisation, and as a British citizen and European resident
I know fully well and understand what I am talking about Mr Francisco, you are welcome to tell lies and crap to your followers as ugly Lenny, does to satisfy his needs!!!
I doh know what you talking about Mr. Man-dog; because the opposition does not have any power in government in Dominica, they cannot thief anything out of the treasury.
Their business is to oppose the wrong, in government, they are supposed to expose the thievery of those who are in government; their business is to expose corruption; especially the corruption of me Almost Nearly Cousin, that damn corrupted crook Roosevelt Skerrit!
So, I don’t see what difference it would have made if ugly Lenny was in England, or any other part of Europe exposing the master crook of corruption Roosevelt “corrupted Skerrit!
And by the way, how can you continue to call Lennox ugly Lenny; when you are much more ugly than Lenny.
Lenny do have a human face; while you have a dog face eh!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
Don’t blame eh, cause you are the one who said you are a dog, as such you named yourself Man Dog!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
Have a nice day now Mr…
Seems like the people have seen that movie before right before the last election also the great new airport and all the steam he has been blowing from his steam power plant on the mountain the last 20 years. There must be an election coming up soon. Same old B/S and bamboozle operation going on to fool and dazzle the masses.
But Lin Clown Dominica so nice and sweet why are you not staying and work on the so many projects in Dominica. You Stayed in the US could not go back now you are in Canada instead you building someone else place stop YAPING and stay in Dominica.
Go and Build your country or shut up and let the people feeling the squeezzz of speak for their rights,
My approach to all project work is from an economical point of view since I do not have “deep pockets”. More power to those who advocate paying for services, I assume personal or government, regardless of the cost.
Why would anyone pay an electrician for example, $200. a day when you can get one with a “compatible skills set” for $160.? Does that make sense to anyone? Same scenario. Why do you expect government to pay more than they have to? To do this would not amount to good money management.
I agree the local guy should be included and benefit from on island projects but he has to be competitive.
Anyone who tells me they would pay more than they have to is simply being dishonest.On the contrary, most persons would try to negotiate a better price.
Contractors should not be awarded work solely on the basis of being local but rather that they are capable of delivering the goods and services in a timely and cost effective manner.
Mark, you are nothing more than a charlatan, one of Skerrit’s most devout disciples. You use the very same argument that the habitual LIAR and his apostles use to justify depriving local contractors, tradesmen and truck drivers of employment. Your rhetorical skills won’t fool me.
You seem to be most concerned about the hourly amount the local man charges for his services. Skerrit lives in a palatial mansion, heavily fortified with police guards, funded by poor tax payers at $74 000 per month. Not a murmur from you about this colossal waste of the country’s scarce revenue. Why not turn your ire on this heartless con man? THOU HYPOCRITE!!!!
@Ibo France, Wow Mark is a charlatan, do you think you can create a charlatan, by the whims of what you say, an intelligent person reading Mark’s comment and your comment would surly spot the charlatan without doubt, YOU. So now the PM rents a house for $74 000 per month, wow, when will you give the exact figure. Look around the world, show me a leader of a Country who does not live in a Mansion without security, whether it is owned by the State or rented., is the PM really living in a palatial mansion heavily fortified with police guards, now that is the thing charlatans do, spin the truth to carry out an agenda, that’s what you are, a political charlatan, that is not coming from my imagination of you, but by your daily comments with the things you say.
Thanks for demonstrating your understanding of prudent fiscal management.
“Same scenario. Why do you expect government to pay more than they have to? To do this would not amount to good money management.”
Boy, people like you will have a very hard time in hell; and even if you repent and God save you from hell, your life on earth will be miserable; people are to be paid according to their skills and knowledge.
If I hang a ceiling fan for anybody in America, I charge no less than US$200.00 dollars.
That is equivalent to EC$538.00
When we are wiring a building, we charge by “points” an outlet is considered a point, a switch is considered a point, based on the size of the property, we charge by the hour!
You all rob the poor, while people in government steals from the nation!
Every politician in government is a multimillionaire, asks yourself could they have ever become millionaires based on their government earnest pay?
This is our country which should be built for us by us like every other countries, the cake is ours not a slice but the cake. This skerrit guy has no respect and we keep accepting those disrespect over and over. Years Chinese and all other foreign entities been controlling and continue to control yet this man make this statement like as if we ought to be grateful to him for allowing us to workz yet we’re the ones who employ skerrit. When are we going to realise that we are the ones who deserve better?
When you say quote, “This is our country which should be built for us by us like every other countries” such a popular common thought, did you do any thinking before you write such sentimental words. Do you think that where the Country is today, Dominica or Dominicans, would be better off with the cliché you espoused. Do you know that there are certain requirements needed to build the Country for us by us, do you want me to list them, I won’t, go do some thinking.
This is a complex issue for discussion, your political narrative is meaningless. I will tell you this, there are forces and things built into the global economic system by people who do not tolerate, independent thinking, history has shown that. That is not to say we are powerless, it just means that we do not understand who we truly are and the power we have collectively and just give it away consenting to a few. When we get things through our ingenuity, the next thing is to protect it.
Gary, This is the proplem with some black people sometimes I wonder which end of the body their brains it any are!!!
Sorry my mistake: the word ment to be it any!!
It is ok, understand, it happens, point is, you’re letting them know how hard you can bite
That is the problem with living out of DOMINICA for too long.The vast majority of Dominicans OWN their OWN home,very few Dominicans rent,just go to the different villages.Those Dominicans who were renting which is about 5,000 and would never be able to own a home was given a $250,000 or $300,000 home.in Roseau today there are several 3 and 4 storey buildings being built buy local people.In the countryside hundreds of houses are behind built and it will surprise you who own them.That is the reason why IBO BS is falling on death ears and,that is why UWP will continue to lose election after election.PARADISE is back up and running.Dominicans eyes are open.A population of 72,167 with 37,000 registered vehicles that JACKA talk about hand to mouth and poverty,one UWP electoral member is building a 5 floor building in the middle of Roseau.
This is the talk of a Mad Man. This man is Out of Touch with reality. He should be institutionalized as his illness only gets worse.
These liars and the haters of Dominica and Dominicans,prodigal sons.Foreign companies has been working in Dominica and contracting Dominicans for years before Skerrit became prime minister.The likes of Rush&Tomkins Cintra,Nelotare,Kolas and others.When the Layou river was blocked by a landslide,Paris Williams applied to UWP for the contract to clear the river,they were told the did not have the equipment to do the job.UWP gave the contract to a foreign company.GHADAKAN.Hypocrites ,Terrorists and Traitors.
I agreed with every words Lin clown, said that so-called UWP are all two face liers from ugly Lenny, down to there cult following, but again be not dismayed Edison James,set that trend of lies and ugly Lenny, is just carrying on from where Edison, left out.
Anything Dog Abuser and Lie Clown tell you make sure to do the opposite. They tell you run, you walk. They tell you something is healthy to consume, dispose if it.
You cannot think of doing anything good with coal dust. Sane with these two and ds, the man who claims he owns more degrees than a thermometer.
Ibo, you can talk all the crap as you like no one is taking any notice of your lies both you and ugly Lenny, is a bag of coal dust and will never fool us the majority ugly Lenny, is a born loser and will never be prime minister of Dominica,go to Hell Ibo!!!
I did not say that I own more degrees than a thermometer but more degrees than a quadrilateral. IBO calls people coal dust but he is more than a bulldust. I appreciate him trying his utmost to see ugly Lenny in the hot seat but, it is all wishful thinking. The recent outcome of the elections in Grandbay is indicative of the fact that the people of Dominica have no interest whatsoever in the UWP party, a party full of morticians and undertakers.
Charity vibes. LOL It good for happy Dominicans!!
Local enterprises should be the recipients of government contracts as the rule, rather than the exception. Plainly put – they get the whole cake and outsiders get the crumbs! This is obviously not what it happening in Dominica these days, is it?
The ongoing questions about long-term ownership of all those “climate resilient” housing units built by MMC and others remain unanswered. Now the issue of sewage disposal is being added to the mix. One can only hope that issue will be resolved immediately as which tourists want to travel around a place that stinks of human waste?
Finally, that these reports come from the regular Sunday sermon otherwise known as Anou Pale is only because the man does not otherwise make himself – or his ministers (who aren’t allowed to speak in any case, most of the time) – available to the press or direct interaction with non-party faithful who might otherwise pose more challenging questions.
Hey P.M. is not just slice we want. How about some of the cherry also.
As stated, the international requirement for a company to be part of the projects is that they must be able to put up abond in a designated bank this BOND is an insurance for ALL of us Dominican.
Did government also ask for performance bond from the guy that used to run a local insurance company before they granted him a 10 million dollar loan. Different rules and different laws for different people that’s how things are run in my country.
The opening picture of the Joe Burton development project in Wesley beautifully illustrates Pete Seeger’s 1963 hit song, “Little Boxes”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUwUp-D_VV0
But such as happy place it looks to be! Thank-you thank-you thank-you Dr Dr Skerrit!
Way papa! Ace has never and does not get any government work in Dominica. Ni water tanks. No roads and services in Bellevue Chopin. No work on geothermal project. Nothing absolutely nothing. Shame on government.
More reasons to put boots on the ground says NJAM2
What has boots on the ground achieved lol, is there something that you can point to that Dominicans can say yes thanks to boots on the ground, absolutely nothing. Why do you make statements out of thin air and not knowing the facts. https://dvrp.gov.dm/phocadownload/Notification%20of%20Contract%20Award-West%20Coast%20Water%20Storage%20Tanks%20Project%20.pdf
https://www.ace-engineering-ltd.com/project-management/
https://www.ace-engineering-ltd.com/services/road-contractors/
Gary, if Martin Luther King Jr. did not put boots on the ground, do you think he would have achieved as much as he did? Nelson Mandella, Malcolm X and others did the same.
Gary you are an intellectual straw weight, you think superficially. You are just a nonentity looking attention. No intelligent person takes you serious.
Why are you so silly, I will make it clear for you, not every “boot’s on the ground” called for is a worthy cause, the boots on the ground called for in Dominica at this time is not a worthy cause, the evidence is there to support my point, when there is call for boots on the ground how many people show up, stop deceiving yourself defending a political cause that is not worthy at this time, but based on deception, mischief and chaos.
I’m not against the use of nonviolent action as a tool to fight injustice and tyranny, yes such action worked, as you clearly shown, but as it regards to your agenda it is not a worthy because Dominicans are not interested at this moment. I will also add I’m not against people who protest if they think there is injustice.
Is Dowasco going to build a sewage treatment plant in that area?
De apartment building areas around Dominica stink
@dissident
Is that just a rhetorical question? DAWASCO has burst pipes and disruptions of services everyday. Do you truly expect management to do such heavy lifting that you are asking of them?
The only thing that DOWASCO is expertly good at is to disconnect poor people who are in arrears.
Now -really- This guy Skerrit is about to call a snap election and I hope the opposition forces realized that.
He is paying for Sinach to come to DA in the middle of the Covid crisis.
He is attending funerals all over the place- During the last three weeks he attend two in La Plaine – the most recent being on Monday. – really campaigning.
Monkey see Monkey do- He is jealous of Mia Motley and wants to be like her- so brace yourself DA here it comes- your ‘beloved’ copycat PM is up to no good again- what else is new? But I love my PM- my foot.
Is this what you are engaging your time to do and noticing all the things going on in the Country but following the PM when he attends funerals, wow. Now that you have made it public that the PM is going to call a snap election, guess you have alerted the Opposition, lol. As to what else is new, the pictures you see accompanying the above story, not your imaginary fantasy about a snap election and Monkey see monkey do, instead, pay attention to your mind not having it play monkey tricks with you.
If he does call it early, the opposition has shown they are incapable of taking advantage of his weakness. For eg. he literally handed them Grandbay on a platter for them to weaken Labor there and gain some much needed support, guess what they did? They abandoned the ship, didn’t contest and didn’t even throw their support behind the indi guy. Even if Skeritt hands then Possie the same way, they haven’t shown competence. So, he will just do a Mia Mortley on them.
So Skerrit what’s gonna happen to that Sewage all these houses gonna produce???
And what kind of program you have going for owning these homes???
Are people gonna be owning those homes one day or people just gonna be government tenants from now on,,,
Is there any plans for Dominica to have a Proper Sewage Treatment Plant???
Allyou can barely take care of the regular garbage, that landfill alway up in smoke wonder what allyou gonna do when those septic tanks start getting too full to handle,,,
These houses remind me of Blenheim,Ontario Canada.BEAUTIFUL.The same way there is sewage for all those beautiful houses and apartment buildings,built by the DLP,there will be sewage for those at Joe Norton.It is a good thing the MAJORITY of Dominicans are not listening to lies and stupidness put out by corrupt UWP and people like IBO,JACKA JONES(JEY JEY)and prodigal Jonathan.
You made me laugh uncontrollably with your comments. Thanks for such a joke. You have found your niche – comedy.
That’s why the the elite always live on top of the hill because sewage always must flow down. Simple law of nature.
Duh… now why is this an afterthought?! Somebody, please?
The performance bond approach, which is how the international contracts operate, is not necessarily the most suited mode of operation for a small island in the Caribbean.
A couple of generations ago, local companies earned their trust by competency and dependability, and not by the content of their bank account.
DNO, this is constructive criticism. Your articles are predominantly from the Annou Pale show like this one. Many of them are nothing more than cheap propaganda to make Mr. Skerrit’ and his malleable, unproductive apostles look good. You (DNO) don’t even give a critical analysis of what is spewed on the show. You just regurgitate word for word.
The country is bleeding jobs; tens of thousands of citizens are now living below the poverty line; young adults and their parents are out of gainful employment; ministers of government cannot legally account for their newly found wealth; transparency and accountability are foreign creatures of this ruling regime; students exit DSC every year with no chances of procuring a job. Doesn’t these things weigh on your minds, DNO?
DBS, Kairi and GIS would NEVER give legs to all these concerns. They have a Siamese twins relationship with the corrupt, current maladministration. Apparently you have joined these three blind mice.
ADMIN: We are certainly concerned for our country – we live in it.
However, you are creating a false dichotomy where there are only two options – your side or the other side. Simply because we don’t express your views does not make us evil or corrupt and adopting your views would not make us good either.
We agree that part of the problem is that news agencies have picked a political side – they are often biased to their chosen party. We admit that we are not perfect and accept that bias exists within everyone including ourselves, but we endeavor to be biased towards the truth over being politically aligned.
No single individual or organization’s views are absolutely right and we believe that applies to us as well.
We stick to reporting on facts and matters in the public record rather than directly injecting our views into articles in order to allow the people to make up their own minds. We maintain this open forum based on free speech where we encourage constructive criticism of us, the government or any public individual and institution.
Here is a political party in power for eighteen (18) consecutive years and just now speaking about giving local contractors a piece of the pie. I’m here wondering how large or thin each slice would be.
Reading between the lines, foreigners would also get their slices too. This talk is just an effort to quell the disquiet and restiveness of the aggrieved local contractors and all conscientious local workforce who are appalled at the influx of Chinese, Haitians and people of Middle Eastern descent being granted most of the government’s building contracts.
Again, this is yet another feel good story taken from Mr. Skerrit’s propaganda Sunday evening Supper Radio Show. If this was a basketball tournament, DNO would be awarded the trophy for most assists.
ADMIN: We would ask you to reserve judgement for the time being as we will continue to provide coverage on this.
“Slice of the cake” this guy is funny. Shouldn’t the cake stay here? That’s how it’s suppose to be done. If there is any left the outsiders will get The F****** slice. He is basically saying we are second.”Sometimes our local contractors do not qualify for this,” Train the contractors on the procedures so they can qualify. So much is wrong with what this guy is saying. Smh
What a liar. “Empowerment of local contractors has always been a priority for his government” says King liar. Since when? There have been multi capital projects in the country and the no-bid contracts were given to Skerritt’s pals from overseas without stipulated minimum portion for local contractors. Mr Leblanc and other contractors agitated for the local contractors but to no avail. The dumper truckers came out on strike recently because they weren’t getting to perform work for these projects. If this government is finally going to do the right thing and guarantee locals a piece of the pie, then the preamble about always caring about local contractors is uncalled for, because practice of the past few years shows something else. We’ll be watching to see if bragging matches the policies and actions going forward.
Skerrit makes it sound as if he is doing the local contractors a favour to allow them access to local contracts. In fact, they should be prioritized over all others, unless they lack the resources to compete.
Very good observation, Zandoli. This statement is a vivid revelation that Mr. Skerrit has nothing but disdain, pity and complete disregard for Dominicans. He determines their station in life. The man is playing God. He decides whether you eat or starve, live or die.
Most Dominicans should earn enough collateral to build the houses of their design, size and desire of their own. When politicians do you any favours ( jobs, land, homes) they would want to control you forever.
This is a COOKIE CRUMB administration in Dominica. Cookie crumbs always fall to the ground no matter how hard you try to prevent it from happening. So Skerrit and his foreign financiers eat the cookie and leave the fine crumbs that fall to the floor for the Dominican people.
Why such pathetic nonsense, if you do not understand how procurement works and when monies are given by international agencies and Governments. When you say quote, “In fact, they should be prioritized over all others, unless they lack the resources to compete. ” Do know what prudent fiscal management is. You always talk about the bidding process for contracts to be awarded, do you know why there is such process. You think if the Government was to do as you said we would have all those Capital projects successful built and be of good standing with international agencies and Governments. Here is some homework
see examples of the bidding process
https://dvrp.gov.dm/phocadownload/Notification%20of%20Contract%20Award-West%20Coast%20Water%20Storage%20Tanks%20Project%20.pdf