Following the passage of Hurricane Maria the general consensus was that in order to foster the process of rebuilding a new Dominica the government must lead the way in insuring that things are done differently – governance must become more transparent and that all Dominicans irrespective of political views would become equal partners in the rebuilding process. In fact PM Skerrit promised the international community that he would institute a culture of transparency within his administration but so far it is just more of the same corruption and crass partisan machinations.
Many of us will remember that even after the DLP administration had systematically orchestrated the demise of the agriculture sector, the prime Minister and his cabinet members suddenly realized that in order to move forward from ravages of Hurricane Maria the agricultural sector must become the spring board for the economy. Under international scrutiny Roosevelt Skerrit and his administration committed themselves to rebuilding agriculture –all hands on deck but snakes never change their survival instincts. They continue to use whatever national resources available to buy voter sympathy.
As a first show of commitment to help Dominica’s recovery process the World Bank provided over EC $18 Million towards the reconstruction of the agricultural sector but instead of using the funds to really develop the agriculture sector the PM and his cronies are using the World Bank funds to play political games and we want the World Bank (WB) to know about the despicable behavior of the PM and the cast of players out of his office- Reggie Saverin,, Steve Ferrol and Kervin Stevenson. Note that Kervin Stevenson who was supposed to take up the position of acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry Of Agriculture is no longer acting and instead the chief veterinarian and prospective Labor Party Candidate, Reginald Thomas is now the acting Permanent Secretary.
Under the watch of the international community it was promised that all “qualified” farmers would receive at least $6000 to assist them with the restoration of their agricultural farms but up to now the farmers are yet to receive the funds. As a matter of fact “some people” were expecting checks on Tuesday but that did not happen. Some people are also expecting to collect checks tomorrow however our information also suggests that the money will not be available tomorrow.
Notice that we are saying “some People” as oppose to farmers are expecting to collect checks tomorrow. This is so because the Prime Minister and his handlers have decided that his Vielle Case constituency and not the genuine farmers out of the main agricultural areas like Marigot, Salisbury, and Wesley will be the focus for the distribution of the World Bank funds. To date only one meeting was held with farmers of Dominica on the matter of the World Bank funds and that meeting was held in Vielle case.
The entire planning process for the distribution of the WB agricultural fund reeks of fraud and political meandering. Farmers are coming out of the woodworks in Vielle case – multiple families many of whom are not farmers are listed to receive $6000. We are aware of some cases where multiple members of the same household are slated to receive $6000 each even though these families and individual family members have no agricultural farms.
We are also aware that some bona fide farmers and non-Laborite with large holdings are also listed to receive funds but are only listed for $2000, particularly non DLP supporters. It is worth noting that during our investigation we found out that prior to Hurricane Maria only 12 farmers show up at farmer’s engagement in the Vielle case constituency and now the farmers listed for the WB funds in the same constituency is now 500 and growing.
As previously noted the clandestine planning for the distribution of the WB funds has been taking place out of the PM’s office. It was Reggie Severin from the PM’s office who conducted that unscrupulous meeting with the fly-by-night farmers of Vielle case. We understand that the agricultural extension officers have not been included in the process of identifying the deserving farmers in Dominica and when the extension officers questioned the process Reggie Severin informed the extension officers that this is an exclusive operation. We also understand that in order to facilitate their bogus intent the PM’s handlers have ask the hinky farmers to falsify the information on the application form – Sketchy farmers of Vielle case are ask to state on the form that they had been supplying DEXIA and the local supermarkets with agricultural produce.
In addition to the shambolic operation out of the PM’s office, government Ministers have also been submitting their own list of bogus farmers from their own constituencies. We also understand that the selection of people (not necessarily farmers) for the WB agricultural funds is now a cabinet affair- the Ministry Of Agriculture and the extension officers have been totally excluded.
Ha Ha, tears of sorrow, tears of joy. When will we wake up and say "enough is enough"?