{"id":179962,"date":"2017-03-05T12:48:47","date_gmt":"2017-03-05T16:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=179962"},"modified":"2017-03-05T12:48:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-05T16:48:47","slug":"commentary-come-ye-forward-sons-and-daughters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-come-ye-forward-sons-and-daughters\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMENTARY: Come Ye Forward Sons and Daughters"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Jeffers Joseph<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Deafening screams of a nation in distress have been reduced to fading gasps, as she withers away into mortality, at the hands of an abdicable leader. It is therefore incumbent upon all of us sons and daughters to come forward and rescue her by demanding the immediate resignation of Roosevelt Skerrit and his entire Administration. This includes those who blatantly manifest a clear dichotomy between what is true and that which is perceived as true. That is to say, they boastfully speak of our country’s beauty and potential, while hypocritically neglecting to mention the burning issues plaguing her, by burying their heads in the sand.<\/p>\n

The realism is, however, against the backdrop of a deplorable economy – which has rendered the country virtually incapacitated for well over a decade – comes a disastrous Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Program, coupled with the reprobate diplomatic passport for cash. With no other tangible engines of economic development in place, Dominica’s fate of survival is now hinged on borrowed time. It is analogous to the old clich\u00e9, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. I am alluding to the recent demand by international and indigenous banks for proof of all corresponding evidence of due diligences associated with passports sold – in exchange for transferals of future CBI funds currently outstanding. Thus, with hardly any other revenue-generating mechanisms for economic sustainability, it will be quite interesting to see how this one plays out.<\/p>\n

Although our treasured citizenships had already been found in the possession of several arrested international criminals, it all began with the bombshell Passport for Cash documentary. Hosted by CBS\u2019s Steve Kroft this past January 1st<\/sup>, the program revealed that Dominican citizenships\/Passports were being sold to nefarious characters, bypassing due diligence – a rigorous vetting process designed to uncover any suspicions of a checkered past in their records. In many cases, applicants even obtained naturalization through mail order – a policy of delivery by mail-in, rather than in-person. Such negligence can potentially offer facilitation to criminals wishing to evade authorities and\/or circumvent their inability to enter certain countries. Incidentally, this precarious practice had always been a concern of the Opposition United Workers Party; however, the true impact of its danger was not realized by the vast majority of Dominicans until the 60 Minutes revelations.<\/p>\n

But, the arrests of these unsavory holders of our prized diplomatic passports – the likes of Ng Lap Seng, Diezani Allison-Madueke, Francesco Corallo – and many more, can’t hold a candle to the genius of Alireza Zibahalat Monfared. Stationed in Malaysia, the 43 year old fugitive was able to swindle upwards of $2.8 billion of Iran’s sanctions-busting money, while selling oil to countries like China and Singapore. Evasion was possible by displaying Dominican flags on oil-transporting tankers housed in Greece. It is alleged that Monfared audaciously strolled into our country with suitcases of his loot, remained on island for a period of upwards of six months, where he was accommodated by government officials. This potentially may constitute aiding and abetting or harboring of a fugitive. The runaway was eventually captured in the Dominican Republic by Interpol, where he was eventually extradited to Iran. He is currently awaiting due process.<\/p>\n

By harboring Monfared, a man who violated US economic sanction laws, the government may have crossed the line thus placing Dominica and Dominicans in perilous waters – locally, regionally and internationally. Despite signals of apathy being sent by CARICOM and the OECS, however, there’s no telling what our country’s future holds with these entities down the road. Dominica could conceivably face ostracization, as well as international sanctions. More importantly, Dominica’s image has been marred, thereby putting citizens in a position of disadvantage in many cases. For instance, they may unfortunately encounter difficulties when applying for visas to international countries such as the US, Canada and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Retrospectively, it has become crystal clear that this prime minister has failed the Dominican people. The lies, deception, corruption, and lack of transparency\/accountability have rendered him unfit to lead the nation. As a consequence, all Dominicans – whether affiliated with Labour, Freedom or UWP – should coalesce, demanding the immediate resignation of Roosevelt Skerrit and his entire cabinet. It should be noted that this is by all accounts a nonpartisan coalition. The level of ill repute that the country has been subjected to merits a vigorous call for the removal of this leadership – or lack thereof. Rather than being an albatross around the necks of the people (the oppressions, suppressions and persecutions), in the interest of the country, this gentleman should do the moral thing and vacate the honorable office of Prime Minister. Dominica is relying on all of us to do the right, be firm, be fair.<\/p>\n

Opinions expressed in this commentary are not necessarily those of Dominica News Online or its advertisers.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deafening screams of a nation in distress have been reduced to fading gasps, as she withers away into mortality, at the hands of an abdicable leader. It is therefore incumbent upon all of us sons and daughters to come forward…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":162523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCOMMENTARY: Come Ye Forward Sons and Daughters - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-come-ye-forward-sons-and-daughters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COMMENTARY: Come Ye Forward Sons and Daughters - Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Deafening screams of a nation in distress have been reduced to fading gasps, as she withers away into mortality, at the hands of an abdicable leader. 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