Prime Minister Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit says he will continue to advocate for climate financing for CARICOM countries as they continue to struggle with the effects of climate change.Prime Minister Skerrit recently represented Dominica, and CARICOM, by extension at the ME-Days Forum in Morocco and then at the inaugural CARICOM-Saudi Arabia summit in Saudi Arabia.
He delivered remarks during the opening ceremony of the ME-Days 2023 Forum which was held under the theme ‘Polycrisis, Polyworld,’ and addressed issues related to energy and sustainability, political instability in Africa, migration crises, and global leadership, governance and multilateralism.
He says he used his opportunity to once again bring attention to the issues faced by the CARICOM member states.
“I deliberated on the disruptions in economic activity and inflationary shocks caused by covid-19apandemic, the Russia Ukraine conflict, and in more recent times the escalating conflict between Israel and Palestine, which is adding to global insecurity. As I always do, I reminded the conference of the extreme vulnerability of our Caribbean states to the impacts of climate change, which continue to impede our progress and threaten our people’s livelihoods; and I made a case for developed countries to take greater responsibility for climate financing and of course fulfilling their commitments to the Paris Accord, where climate financing is concerned,” PM Skerrit stated.
The Prime Minister then addressed the CARICOM-Saudi Arabia Summit, whose primary focus was developing investment and trade links in key sectors such as infrastructure, hospitality, energy, climate change, and environmental sustainability.
PM Skerrit says the summit provided a platform to build collaboration between CARICOM member states and Saudi Arabia in various sectors.
“We met with key individuals from both the public and private sectors, including investment groups, looking to launch new enterprises and investments in the Caribbean in areas such as Agriculture, renewable energy, tourism and infrastructural development. In our engagement with the Crowned Prince, a wide range of areas with possibility for cooperation were also agreed upon to include but not limited to tourism, food security, maritime cooperation, health, education to include scholarships for Caribbean youths, and of course infrastructural development,” he explained.
He says the issue of climate change and climate financing remains at the forefront of his agenda heading to Cop 28, where he will champion the need for access to critical resources required for building resilience to climate change.
“I again stress the need for us to address the issue of climate change as a collective, particularly the very important matter of climate financing. This issue of climate financing will be at the forefront of my agenda when I participate in the upcoming Conference of the Parties (Cop) 28 in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. I will lead a delegation to the highly anticipated climate summit focused on improving access of small states to critical financial resources needed to build resilience against the changes in climate,” he noted.
The Prime Minister noted that this Conference of Parties should be one where developed countries come through on commitments they have made to small island developing states.
“We need this COP to be one of action that delivers on the promises of developed countries to provide the much needed financing to tackle the worsening climate situation. I believe that if we leave Dubai with no clear deliverables, it will be a very unfortunate period for us in the developing world. Everybody knows of my misgivings about the utility of such conferences; after all we have walked the walk, we have talked the talk but after thirty years or so we have seen no practical action on the part of the developed world to help in addressing an existential threat to us in the Caribbean and small island states,” the Prime Minister went on to state.
Prime Minister Skerrit added that he will continue to advocate for more equitable distribution of climate financing for all CARICOM countries.
“The lives of our people are at risk and so I will stay true to the pledge I have made to the Dominican people, and of course the wider Caribbean region, to keep fighting for more equitable distribution of climate financing, which is so critically and urgently needed to ensure that all of us have a better future,” PM Skerrit added.
Fifty seven-individuals have received certificates for the successful completion of their respective entrepreneurial training programs, as the Dominica Youth Business Trust in collaboration with the Ministry Of Culture, Youth, Sports and Community Development hosted their 19th graduation and awards ceremony at the Windsor Park Stadium Forecourt on November 22, 2023.
Nathaniel Lovell and Althia Joy Watty were the recipients of the Determined Entrepreneurs Awards 2023.
Coordinator of DYBT, Hon. Phillip Rolle, says the 19th graduation ceremony recognizes the commitment and success of the entrepreneurs.
“Today marks the 19th graduation and awards ceremony of the Dominica Youth Business Trust and I am thrilled to be here celebrating alongside our graduants and awardees. We gather here today to applaud the achievements of a remarkable group of young entrepreneurs who have successfully completed diverse entrepreneurship training programmes. Their journey has been characterized by resilience, creativity and unwavering determination today we come to recognize and applaud their success,” Hon. Rolle stated.
Hon. Rolle says the support and investment of the DYBT is fueled by the substantial impact of entrepreneurs on the economy.
“As a business support organization, we understand the immense potential and the impact that the youth can have on the economy. This is why the DYBT takes pride in providing support, inspiration and guidance to our young entrepreneurs. Our goal is to transform young job seekers into job creators. Our commitment extends beyond the establishment of businesses, it is about empowering young individuals to transform their passion, skills and ideas into tangible realities in doing so they can contribute to economic growth, generate employment opportunities and provide essential goods and services to their communities,” he noted.
He provided an overview of their activities leading up to the 19th graduation and awards ceremony.
“Throughout the period, we were able to host a total of four successful training programs including our flagship Entrepreneurial Development Program, which is our business incubator type program and the Small Business Assistance Facility which is our accelerated type program. The 17th EDPU hosted a total of eighteen up and coming entrepreneurs for a four week period, while between the two SBF programs, thirty-one existing entrepreneurs were trained. The trust also is proud to have trained eight social entrepreneurs over the period with social missions that seek to tackle issues of the environment, training and development of at-risk youth, among others,” he added.
Among those graduating was Ms. Annelle John the owner of J-Star who completed the 17th Entrepreneurial Development Program (EDP). She spoke of the impact the EDP had on her journey as an entrepreneur.
“The EDP has been an invaluable asset in my development of a young female entrepreneur. I extend an earnest invitation to all young individuals whether you possess a bold or a mere speck of an idea to join this program. It has not only transformed my life but has significantly impacted my family,” she stated.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture, Youth, Sports and Community Development, Hon. Oscar George highly commended the DYBT and the newly graduated cohort.
“I want to commend the entire DYBT team for their energy, their passion and their diligence on a daily basis. Let’s give DYBT a huge round of applause. Sometimes they say we are hard on them. I believe it’s in good cause because we are seeing the fruits of their hard work again congratulations DYBT. We are very proud of the growing accomplishments of the DYBT particularly over the last few years, so on behalf of the Ministry. I again extend sincere congratulations to the fifty-seven graduates who will receive their certificates this afternoon,” he stated.
Hon. George says he was impressed by the determined male and female entrepreneurs for 2023.
Meanwhile, Minister for Health, Wellness and Social Services, Hon. Cassanni Laville represented the Hon. Prime Minister of Dominica at the graduation and awards ceremony where he delivered the featured address. Hon. Laville offered his advice to the young entrepreneurs. He encouraged them to embrace their uniqueness as businesses
“Embrace your uniqueness. We are all different. We all have special skills. We all have special talents. I should not try to be you. You should not try to be me. Let us all celebrate our uniqueness and our own identity,’ he stated.
The Minister advised individuals to embrace different strategic approaches instead of competing directly with others offering the same product.
The Dominica Youth Business Trust was launched in 2004 and continues to profoundly impact the entrepreneurial landscape in Dominica.
Prime Minister of Dominica, Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit has addressed the recent re-emergence of load shedding activities by the Dominica Electricity Services Company Ltd. (DOMLEC).
Earlier this year, DOMLEC implemented a series of load shedding schedules due to limitations in its capacity and have since been focused on finding an effective solution to the crisis.
Prime Minister Skerrit spoke to the issues that have hindered the progress of DOMLEC.
“DOMLEC has advised that the available capacity is now 3 megawatt short of what is required to avoid load shedding in Dominica. And as you may be aware earlier this month a landslide caused damage to two sections of the pipeline supplying water to the Trafalgar power station. So when we were making progress this damage to the pipeline came and have set them back a bit. Infrastructure works to restore the pipeline should be completed by the end of this week. However, maintenance work to avoid further risk to the pipelines will continue until mid- December 2023.Therefore we expect the Trafalgar power station to be functional and back online by the third week of December,” PM Skerrit stated.
Efforts are being made to provide relief from the load shedding being experienced in Dominica.
“The good news in the immediate to short term um- and as previously announced, DOMLEC has entered into a rental agreement with Aggreko, a US based generator rental firm to lease two units – generating three megawatts of electricity. The 3 megawatt units arrived on island on Friday, November 10th and should be online by November 30th, 2023. This will boost DOMLEC’s generation capacity and provide relief from the load shedding currently being experienced,” he explained.
The replacement of older generators with new ones continues to remain a priority for Dominica.
The Government of Dominica has steadfastly worked towards the procurement of additional generators which will be leased to DOMLEC.
“The Government of Dominica has procured additional generator units amounting to 4. 8 megawatt of power which will be leased to DOMLEC by the Government on very favorable terms, and of course I’m stressing favorable terms. The whole intention of that is to ensure that whatever the terms that will entail DOMLEC it won’t trigger an increase in the cost of electricity to our consumers. If we were to allow DOMLEC to buy them, DOMLEC would have to pass it on to the consumers. So we are buying them and we will lease it to DOMLEC at favorable terms so that we cushion that expenditure against the consumers,” the Prime Minister noted.
The additional generators will address the current limitations faced by DOMLEC and will maximize generation capacity of DOMLEC until geothermal energy is achieved.
“These generators will be shipped to Dominica on December 2nd, and so once they get in by very early next year. We will be in a position to have them connected to the grid. And we believe that that will address the generation capacity by replacing new generators with old ones. Because the intention of the Government is to ensure that we have 10 megawatt generation capacity with new generators moving forward to ensure that the wear and tear of will not cause us to be in situation of load shedding. So we working with DOMLEC on the immediate, on the medium term and of course the long term and the longer term will involve the introduction of geothermal which will rest the situation completely,” PM Skerrit added.
Prime Minister Skerrit encouraged DOMLEC to have better communication and engagement with customers.
The Government of Dominica remains committed to reducing and eventually eliminating the need for load shedding in Dominica.
“One of the major preoccupations of the Dominican public is DOMLEC and load shedding and we share as a government their frustration and their anxieties. But rest assured we will do everything to alleviate and we’re doing everything from the Government standpoint to alleviate the frustrations and the anxieties by reducing and eventually eliminating the need for load shedding in Dominica,” PM Skerrit further stated.
The Government of Dominica will be working with DOMLEC to return the situation to normalcy.
National player Audel Laville registered his second goal in as many matches and winger Javid George got a goal off the bench as the Senior Men’s National Football Team picked up their second straight win in the CONCACAF Nations League, beating the Turks and Caicos at the A.O Shirley Recreational Center in Tortola on Monday, November 20.
Dominica entered the match guaranteed a position in League B, and Coach Ellington Sabin made 6 changes to the squad that beat the British Virgin Islands last Thursday.
Erskim Williams was handed the captain arm band, as regular captain Glenson Prince was among the players rested.
The National Team got out of the gates with an explosive start, and Audel Laville put the team in front in the 15th minute of play.
Despite dominating on possession and opportunities on goal the National Team couldn’t increase on their advantage and went into the half time break leading 1-nil.
In the second half, the National Team had to withstand an early wave of pressure from the Turks and Caicos team, before they were able to turn things around.
Javid George came on as a substitute and had an immediate impact getting the important second goal in the 61st minute to calm the nerves on the bench.
The rains came soon after and there was a drop in the quality of play, but Dominica was able to hold on in the end to secure the 2-nil win.
The win means that Dominica will top Group C of League C with 10 points, and more importantly will be promoted to League B of the CONCACAF Nations League next year.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Roseau of the Commonwealth of Dominica, and Yiwu of the People's Republic Of China.
This Memorandum of Understanding marks a significant milestone in strengthening the bonds between the two cities and promoting mutual prosperity and development.
Through this twinning of cities agreement, both parties have committed to establishing friendly cooperation based on mutual trust and friendship, as they believe that building strong relationships with international counterparts is essential for the growth and progress of the constituency, Roseau city, and the wider Dominica.
The agreement also outlines the areas in which they will conduct practical and diversified cooperation and exchanges. These areas include economy & trade, education, culture, tourism, and sports. By exploring opportunities for collaboration in these fields, the aim is to maximize the benefits that can be derived from this twinning of cities agreement.
This agreement came into effect on the date of signing by representatives between Hon. Melissa Poponne Skerrit and Mayor Ye Bangrui in Yiwu on November 15, 2023.
Hon. Poponne Skerrit stated that as Parliamentary Representative of the Roseau Central Constituency, she is excited about the benefits and opportunities that this agreement will bring to Roseau.
She added that she is excited about the prospects that lie ahead and confident that this partnership will bring long-term benefits to the Roseau constituents and the people of Dominica.
“The increased cooperation in economy & trade can lead to new business partnerships and investment opportunities for our local entrepreneurs. The exchange of knowledge and expertise in education will provide our students with enhanced learning experiences. Cultural and tourism exchanges will contribute to the promotion of our rich heritage and attractions, attracting more visitors to our constituency and the country as a whole,” she stated.
Hon. Poponne Skerrit added “We are grateful to the Mayor of Yiwu Mr. Ye Bangrui and the People's Republic of China for accepting my request to twin the city of Roseau with the thriving city of Yiwu. I want to reiterate that this Memorandum of Understanding signifies the beginning of a new chapter of cooperation and friendship between Roseau and Yiwu. We are excited about the prospects that lie ahead and are confident that this partnership will bring long-term benefits to the Roseau constituents and the people of Dominica.”