As Government continues to address the issue of housing across the country, the community of Dubic is not exempt.
On Monday, the Dubic Improvement Committee received a cheque of sixty thousand dollars from the Government of Dominica which will go toward improving housing needs within the community.
Prime Minister Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit spoke of the efforts that his government has taken to empower the people of Dubic.
“Dr. Darroux made reference to the issue of land. When I got to know, a few years ago, that the land was not owned by the residents of Dubic but owned by some private citizen, I asked myself,’ how is it that for all of these years, it never dawn on any government to recognise that Dubic was owned by a private citizen and that they should go ahead and buy the land and make it available to the residents of Dubic’? “
He told residents, “Do you know that even if you may have little resources and you want to do something for yourself there is no way that you could go to any bank or credit union and say ‘I am living in Dubic and therefore I want a loan to fix my house or to build a house.’ They would not give it to you because you would not be able to give to the bank or credit union the most important document which is a Certificate of Title. I said to the Government immediately we have to move in and whoever owns the land, the Government should buy it from the person and hand it over to the people of Dubic.”
The Prime Minister stated that his administration is committed to alleviating the plight of the residents of Dubic.
“You are getting land at the best rate or the [most] impossible rates you can find anywhere in the world because nowhere in the world is there land being sold at 25 cents a square foot.”
“In the Labour Party, my dear friends, and for me, from an ideological and philosophical point of view, I believe in people’s independence but you cannot be independent if you do not own the title because at any time somebody could have put you out. The owner of the land could’ve gone to court and said I want these people out. Can you imagine, you’ve lived here for forty or fifty years and then all of a sudden there’s a court order to put you out of the land? But we are here to reassure and to reconfirm to you that this will never happen in Dubic because the Government of Dominica bought this land and we are selling it to you the residents of Dubic at 25 cents a square foot,” he continued.
Prime Minister Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit shared his vision for the community of Dubic and that is to be recognized as a legal community.
“We paid five dollars and thirty-five cents per square foot for the land and we’re selling it to you at 25 cents, so somebody may come to Dubic and say to you what is Dr. Darroux doing for you in Dubic? What is Skerrit doing for you in Dubic? What is the Labour Party doing for you in Dubic? One of the most important things we have done for you here is to give you a peace of mind that tomorrow morning many of you will have a title in your name. While we recognize that the person who was selling the land to us was selling it too expensive, our main consideration at the time was to settle the people of Dubic. You have always been a people of struggle. Your grandparents and parents worked on the farms, you had nowhere to turn and you ended up settling here in Dubic. Government is making this into a recognized legal community called Dubic. I am very happy to be part of a Government that has recognized that.”