Ten outstanding Dominicans in various areas including agriculture, tourism, renewable energy, music and entertainment as well as culture were awarded last night at the Jungle Bay Resort, to kick off the first-ever Dominica Economic Revival Summit.
The event was organized by the United Workers Party (UWP) in partnership with the Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) and will run from Tuesday, June 4 to Thursday, June 6.
The list of awardees is as follows:
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented in honour of the late prominent Businessman Phillip Nassief.
The team at Ti Kwen Glo Cho was awarded for their contribution to the Tourism Industry.
Davidson Anthony Edwards, Founder of ShopDM, for his contribution to the IT Industry.
Ordel Hamilton, Founder of the Extasy Band, for his contribution to the Cultural Industry.
Emad Zarkha, CEO of Bloom Box, for his contribution to the Agriculture Industry.
Daniel Perryman, Operator of Dive Dominica, for his contribution to the Blue Industry.
Reigning calypso King Dennison Joseph was recognized for his contribution to the Music/Entertainment Industry.
Terry Henry-Lovell, CEO of Bee Natural, for her contribution to the Agro-processing Industry.
National Triple Jumper, Thea Lafond-Gadson for her contribution to the Sports Industry.
Pickaat Innovations Ltd for its contribution to the Renewable Energy Industry.
President of the UWP, Lennox Linton presented a pre-recorded tribute to Mr. Nassief about his contribution to Dominica’s economy. His daughter, Mrs. Maroussia Reid received his award.
“He was a man of incredible humbleness, unsurpassed integrity, and boundless philanthropy. He was a visionary and a leader. May we all follow in his footsteps and lead by his example,” said Ms Reid.
Olympian Thea Lafond-Gadson expressed gratitude from Stockholm, Sweden.
“It is no surprise that sports has the ability to motivate, inspire, and to revive not only the human soul, but our community and I take great honour in being nominated and receiving this award virtually. I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart,” she said. Leader of the UWP, Dr. Thomson Fontaine used the opportunity to invite Dominicans-based overseas to network with residing Dominicans.
“It’s important for us in the Diaspora to build partnerships with us here in Dominica. I am not simply talking about the barrel economy to sending support to your families. I think it’s time that can provide resources to help build factories, to source capital, to put our people to work. I think it’s time we move to that level… I know there are countless Dominicans that if we come together maybe in groups of five or ten, we pull our resources together, we can do a lot of things in Dominica… it’s time we begin to put that focus because our people here in Dominica, they are in fact hurting. We have been going through some very difficult times here in Dominica,” Dr. Fontaine stated.
Some 100 people attended the awards ceremony. Guest performers included Lady of Song, Ophelia Marie, Calypsonian, Daryl Bobb, and Comedian Franklyn Moses.
The awards ceremony was a precursor to the Economic Revival Summit which continued which commenced today with a focus on agriculture, examining the topics, ‘The Role of Infrastructure in Agricultural Development’ presented by Dr. Davdson Lloyd PhD and ‘Exploring Marketing and Shipping Options for Agriculture’ presented by Errol Emmanuel PhD. Leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) Economist Dr. Thomson Fontaine presented on ‘Setting the Basis for Economic Growth and Development in Dominica’, while Former Leader of the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) Kent Vital gave the welcome remarks.
Other topics and presenters were are follows:
Political Scientist, Alex Bruno
Former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Edward Henderson
Medical Doctor, Dr. Irvin Pascal
It is interesting to note that UWP using this fantastic facility funded by CBI funds for their pappy-show, yet if they had their way, CBI would have shut down before it got off the ground and Dominica would have been far worse off economically. Thomson and his UWP clowns are like double headed serpents.
Is is strange or a complete UWP puppet,when DNO can post 89 pictures of a failed UWP national rally in Roseau and the cannot post 5 pictures of their Economic Revival Summit.
this is not an election campaign………de vibes was/is available on youtube
Very well planned, executed and deserving!