Contending that the Roosevelt Skerrit-led administration has not so far properly accounted for CBI funds and the country’s Venezuela debt situation, UWP leader Lennox Linton is insisting that the parliamentary opposition wants full accountability for Citizenship By Investment Funds acquired by Dominica, and what it describes as a US$10- million debt forgiven by Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela.
“Present complete and truthful post-Maria accounts,” Linton said in a media statement aimed at the Prime Minister.
The amount of funds that were in the CBI account at the National Bank of Dominica when Hurricane Maria struck, how much money has been collected from the programme since September 18th 2017, and how much money from the CBI programme spent since September 18th last year and what specifically the funds were used for, are among the questions Opposition Linton wants to be answered.
The government is also being told that it needs to explain why it has “refused to use funds from the CBI programme to compensate private sector companies which suffered loss of inventory and damage to their properties because of the government’s failure to deal with the breakdown of law and order that erupted after Hurricane Maria.”
On the question of “debt forgiveness from Venezuela”, Linton argues that the people of Dominica have a right to know the following:
“What is the government’s explanation for accepting forgiveness of a debt which the Prime Minister told Parliament – the highest decision-making body in the country – did not exist?
1) Having accepted forgiveness of a debt that government has not been accounting for, on November 21st, 2017, which organization has been holding the money that the debt represents and when will this money be passed to the Government of Dominica?
2) How will the money (that no longer has to be repaid to Venezuela) be used in the climate resilient reconstruction of Dominica?”
According to Linton, it is estimated that between September 18th, 2017 and December 31st, 2017, from the sale of passports and the debt forgiven by Venezuela, the government had at its disposal over one billion EC dollars for relief, recovery and reconstruction responsibilities.
Last November Venezuela said it was writing off Dominica’s outstanding US$100-million PetroCaribe debt in a gesture of solidarity between the two countries in the wake of Hurricane Maria. However, the government had said there was no indebtedness from the PetroCaribe deal.
You this people who are degrading Mr Linton, they are the ones who have to come back and fight the pm back, history not lying and we saw in many countries, so labourite time will tell, uwp supporters have to stand aside an see all you crushed him down,when all you will stop get the milk an honey that’s when you all will start
Lintons opinions are not important and should be ignored by the government at all times. You dont have to fulfill his requests. After maria he went into hiding and was moomoo things start getting back on stream now his appetite for power come back! Your services, your opinions and your requests are ridiculous and clown type mr linton and will never be taken seriuosly, you will never be our pm.
Hello and good morning my people. First I must say that I don’t have any political Affliation in Dominica ,I don’t reside there ,I don’t vote there but I love my place of birth. Now I remember the Prime Minister who is the Finance Minister speaking in parliament as to our country outstanding debt where he said that our Government don’t own Venezuela any money. Five months after he said that the Venezuelian ambasordor to the United Nation said his country is forgiving One Hundred Million US dollars in debt owed to Venezuela by Dominica Government as a sign of our nations friendship. So when is our Prime Minister going to address the major conflict in his statement or is he saying the Venezuelian government isn’t being honest because both statement can’t be true. The PM should not be the finance minister because that creates a conflict of interest because he has the numbers which he can manipulate.
Dominica is doomed, tribalism reign supreme. I am saying even if you not a UWP supporter if Lennox says something that’s valid agree with the man. Dominicans fail to understand that the government is made up of the ruling party and the opposition. This party first and country second attitude will only serve to keep Dominica in the backward position it is in.
For a country to flourish there must be good governance. Integrity, accountability, transparency and collaboration by the government with the opposition, the business sector and civil bodies should be prominent characteristics of any good government. The Skerrit regime is found wanting in every aspect. With eighteen (18) uninterrupted years of governing Dominica, Skerrit and his henchmen have brought abject poverty, unprecedented indebtedness, ferocious political tribalism and tremendous mental and emotional anguish to the people. Skerrit’s legacy would be the many mental and emotional scars he inflicted on the once too trusting populace. Only selfish, greedy, unconscionable imbeciles can support such a miscreant.
It’s time that so-called opposition leader resigned ,that guy is a joke to be honest with no education no brainpower nothing personal. Just not good enough to be apolitical leader.
Who are you talking about? Skerrit? For once I have to agree with you regarding your description of your master.
Man bite dogs must statement might have been attributed to the fact that such opposition leader supposedly does not have a college education or degree .
That scumbag Paul Rossnof, above knows exactly what i am referring too ?
Did i upset you again Doggy?? Poor Doggy, uncle Paul won’t do it again. Promise…
And what is more appalling is the man just saying things without thinking.
I am trying to connect the dots in the questions he is asking and absolutely no connection.
Plus he heard PM use a word (CLIMATE RESILIENCE) the man not even understanding the proper context in which it is being used but before he talk is climate resilience. Soon he will ask for climate resilience food
Now US$100,000.00 (DEBTS FORGIVENESS IN SEPTEMBER 18th 2017) we are now in January 2018 and LENNOX LINTON ALREADY SAYING THE GOVT. HAVE THAT AT IT DISPOSAL FOR SPENDING. Not even realising it’s a debt that government has to pay over a period of time.
Now if that man don’t possessed the intellectual capacity to differentiate cash in hand from a debt which government have years to pay what else he will understand.?
Boy thanks god dominicans pa sot ahcore yea.
Because we would had well elected this man into office to create catastrophic events in Dominica with his voodoo economics
To: NUWP
Hello and good morning my people. Hi you are miss representing the debt of One Hundred Million Dollars. I heard the Prime Minister when he stood at the podium in Parliament and said that our Government don’t owe Venezuela any money. Then five months later the Venezuelian ambasordor to the United Nation said as a sign of strengthening their friendship with Dominica. His government is forgiving the One Hundred Million US dollars owed to them by Dominica Government. This is a tremendous saving so where is the money that would have been used to make the monthly payments to Venezuela. So stop misrepresenting facts because you are doing a disservice to our people who’s blinded by political Affliation . Mr Linton is doing what an opposition leader should do which is holding the Governing party responsible by asking critical questions.
You are obviously blind and stupid and you deserve this Government. However, the rest of us does not deserve this Government.
First of all can’t have pm for Minister of finance big mistake there he should be for security so who knows what he can do people in the government wake up time for that nonsense to stop we need a change
You have many many many more years to see him as Dominica prime minister.
Till Demitry have children he is coming out there.
The only set of people in the world who have a issue with Skerrit is some UWP supporters and rejok and co.
First time a prime minister of Dominica have so much respect in the locally Regionally internationally universally and heavenly but yet still UWP and their carbal trying to bring Dominica name and it’s pm down.
But it is easier to take a lather to climb to go to heaven than to see this government fall and to be replaced by Lennox and or UWP.
We had 4 1/2 Years dat was like 50 years of pain on our back.
WE AINT GOING BACK THERE OH. Pala
Go and roll all u rosary tan and ask got for forgiveness for the sin u all commenting against the state.
All our CBI money we getting all u almost burn down Roseau for it. All u think we will forget that?
Well Lennox the CBI money u asking about WE USING IT TO FIX ROSEAU AFTER THE FIRE OK?
If stupidity were painful you would be screaming all day long.
I wonder what you fool dream of at night. You are so full of that red coolaid it’s almost embarrassing
To: SAMs
Hello and good morning my people. SAMs you are absolutely correct that’s how our Prime Minister have been able to tell so many lies about our country finances because he control the purse. We need a financial audit of our Government finances then they will see how he being getting away with his prior statements to parliament . The Prime Minister shouldn’t also be the finance minister rather he should appoint someone with a finance background and that person could be brought to parliament to address budgetary issues.
How much the government spends and the source of the funds that it spends is always outlined in the annual budget. Mr. Linton will have to wait until the budget is presented and then ask questions. Did any government in the pass publish its bank balance between budgets. Just more useless talk. Perhaps Mr. Linton should speak to the merchants in Dominica who are been compensated for there goods that they lost as a result of the Hurricane. I am only now getting to know that the story of looters causing damage was exagerated, I wonder why?
This has nothing to do with budget in that respect. We are talking specific in this instance about independently audited accounts in reference CBI and PetroCaribe.
Government operates on a budget, if there is no budget the government cannot operate. Government can not spend money without a budget. So regardless of the source of funds it must be detailed in the budget. You all are just on a political witch hunt and concocting all types of foolishness to create confusion.
Point that’s the way it should be in a democratic government. We don’t have that though. Just answer me one question: when did the parliament of Dominica sit last? So you are still telling me that we have a democracy?? I tell you what we have, we have a dictatorship a la Venezuela, nothing more and nothing less. Skerrit has not presented audited accounts for over 10 years. Beforehand they were audited by Christian and we all know what that means as well. Since he doesn’t want to or can’t give us independently audited accounts should tell us a long story. Only people with something to hide would refuse that request. The same, by the way applies to the memorandum with China.
Thank you Mr Linton for fighting for the truth on the behalf of real and true patriots.This Labour Party government is famous for buying patronage from suffering fools and think that this gives legitimacy to it’s lack of proper accountability and continual lack of disclosure on it’s behavior.This is not what good citizens expect from our government and I appreciate Lennox and the opposition holding the feet of the government to the fire to come clean and stay clean on matters of governance of our beloved country.Imagine Skerritt did not have his children be proud Dominicans but instead had them born in the USA.
Jonathan, are you aware that Lennox’s children were also born in the USA? Lennox as opposition leader spends more time in the states, as we write he is in the USA, so go figure.
Anon
These people do not take time to make themselves aware of anything. They just drink and gulp all the innuendos and allegations they hear whether it makes sense or not, once it is something negative about Dominica and better still about Skerrit.
What you are saying is factual, by the way. I wonder how many of them knew that while they were cursing Mr. Skerrit, so it seems that whichever leader takes the helm their children belong to Trump country.
How is that for choice?
Let me break it down for you Anon.What are the ages of Lennox’s children born in the US compared to Skerritt who as prime minister tells us he is ding a fantastic job of moving Dominica forward with his leadership,which is second to none,yet he doesn’t have confidence in Dominica’s future to have his children claim Dominica as their birthright.Skerritt’s children were born in America whilst he is leader/ruler of Dominica and he doesn’t have faith in Dominica’s future and the path forward he is charting for the country and it’s future citizens.This is the central point.You and Barbara Saunders need to learn to question things you read to get at the questions of what?when?why?where and how? to fully understand what you are reading or you will continue to only see things in a “maypwisan” kind of way when it is not.
The freedom of Dominica should start tonight. Lol a looter and a shooter. As for me I prefer to be a looter. Look Dominica is a joke so we might as well have fun even with burning issues
Wicked and desperate people will never succeed.
I agree with Lennox, we need answers on these and other questions. Skerrit, don’t call a press conference and say we have this and we have that. We want to see properly audited accounts, nothing more and nothing less.
But Paul, Lennox is the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. He has the authority to talk to the Financial Secretary, and other officials in the Ministry of Finance and demand the relevant documents
Ras
That requires discipline and procedures. It is so much easier to just run-mouth, mislead people and play on their emotions with half truths and mauvais lang and then ask them with tarpualins over their head and ration from tax payers in other countries to pay from the little they have for your irresponsible utterances.
The only problem they don’t give him the info.
Why this man don’t go find some real work to do like building something and creating jobs for the people? All he doing is just asking questions. Tell us what you doing man!!!
I tired of the both of you. You and the PM.
Isn’t that his real job that Dominica elected, and the opposition members in parliament subsequently nominated him to do? My people it is high time we stop viewing every thing through an infantile and political lens. This not about which political party you support. It’s about our country being on the wrong side of global affairs and we as citizens stand to lose the most.
No Galileo
That is not what the opposition members in parliament to do. Michael Douglas was an opposition leader; Eugenia Charles was an opposition leader; Edison James of the same party was an opposition leader; Roosie Douglas was an opposition leader. None of them were perfect as we do not expect perfection from any human being. ………BUT
Did you see any one of them go to sleep every night, wake up every morning dreaming up a new way to destroy Dominica or travel the world bad talking Dominica and Dominicans in the hope of becoming Prime Minister? No, they did not. They took their issues to the Parliament. They worked on the ground with their supporters. They made representation for the needs of their constituencies. People like Roosie even got scholarships for dominicans while in opposition.
Of course there were “the boots on the ground” days too, but that didn’t constitute the entire purpose of their existence as opposition leaders. No!
Lennox may have some issues I don’t agree with but I applaud him for being on this DLP with issues and trying to get answers. We all know there’s some corruption going on in this DLP camp. Even a blind man can see and hear what’s going on. Maybe at some point the DLP will be a better party and clean up their act. Everyone deserves a second chance. Thanks Mr.lennox and company for looking and speaking out for those who don’t have a voice. God bless Dominica and Dominican.
Mr. Linton it’s time for another CBS type interview. You are in the US so please stop by FOX, CNN, NBC, CBN, ABC or even news papers, so the world could know what is happening and come to our rescue. It’s time for action man!
I must admit
Well if you want more rescue from the world than what they did after Maria, I’m not sure if you are okay. It is as if the world did not hear CBS 60 minutes or Kenneth Rijock or any of the masterminds behind the planning of Dominica’s downfall. Could it be that they recognise the selfish political games for what they are?
I am one who thinks that wrong is wrong whoever does it and I do not have a problem with people pointing out wrong things, but I have a major problem with people brazenly and opening dismissing proven wrong things on one side and trying to crucify another side based on rumour, conjecture, character assassination and the like.
Perhaps the world listens to what happens on both sides that is why they continue to frustrate you people’s death wish for Dominica since you seem to be hoping that as it dies it will take Skerrit with it.
I wonder if you all have resurrection powers to bring it back alive when you all “come on stage” ?
You just don’t get it do you? Explain to us what in your opinion happened with the $100 million owed to Venezuela. What happened to the majority of the passport money. Don’t come and tell us about 18million bridge in Roseau.
Barbara Saunders, you are brilliant.
After the Cbs program how much money did we make of the cbi? So tell him go again. This time we will triple that figure so go Lennox go……
Sacway sort zor yay