​Twenty-two individuals have successfully completed a 2-day sexual offences training workshop which climaxed Friday.
 
The workshop was funded by the British High Commission and facilitated Lifeline Ministries.

The participants, including police officers, engineers and health officials to name a few, were trained in the proper use of rape kits.
 
Facilitator of the workshop Vic Donaldson says the rape kits will be fully equipped to ensure proper investigation of sexual related matters.

​Sexual Offences Training Workshop Facilitator Vic Donaldson
 
The British High Commission also made a donation of 100 rape kits to the Dominica Police Force.

​Government says it will continue the quest to modernize the city of Roseau in 2017.
 
Contracts are expected to be signed by April 2017, for the reconstruction and enhancement of several streets in the city.
 
PM Roosevelt Skerrit recently announced construction will also commence on the river side promenade.

​PM Roosevelt Skerrit

​Newly elected LaPlaine Village Councillor, Jason Fontaine, is calling on Minister for Youth, Sports and Constituency Empowerment, Justina Charles, to Honor the decision of the LaPlaine constituents, to change the members of the previous LaPlaine Village Council.
 
Recently elections were held for the LaPlaine Village Council, between two teams. Team 1 won the most votes, and comprised of Kervin Bateau-246, Jason Fontaine-238, Ella Laudat-229, Asher Laronde- 222; Rose Blaize and Vernika Allan tied at 211.
 
However, Fontaine told Q95 in an exclusive interview, Minister Justina Charles is attempting to push her political agenda, rather than honour the people’s choices, by attempting to have former Council Chairperson Rose Blaize returned to the position of chairperson, after she failed in that position, Jason says her failure along with the previous members of the Council was what prompted the election.

Caribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke has warned that US President Donald Trump’s recent executive order which is now barring entry to the US for predominantly Muslims Nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, could extend to the Caribbean.
 
Clarke who is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, told an emergency meeting of the Muslim community, in her predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn on Sunday night, “I am concerned that he could expand that order, if we don’t organize and push back now”.
 
She added, “We know that there is a healthy Muslim population in the Caribbean region, from Guyana, to Trinidad, to Jamaica across the board; so we have to make sure we come together”.

​Meanwhile, Opposition Leader, Lennox Linton, has called on Prime Minister Skerrit to come clean with the people of Dominica about the circumstances of Alireza Monfared.
 
In response to a weekend address by PM Skerrit, Linton accused Mr Skerrit of harbouring Monfared from justice, although he was accused of being involved in a multi-billion-dollar embezzlement scam in Iran.

​He added that Dominica is now being looked upon as a rogue nation.
 
Linton says Dominica is now in a difficult international situation, due to Mr Skerrit’s reckless, unacceptable behaviour, as leader of the country.

Former IMF Economist Dr Thomson Fontaine believes the DLP Administration has lost all moral authority to govern the Commonwealth of Dominica.
 
Dr. Fontaine also takes issue with the trend of DLP appointments of Ambassadors who hold Dominican Diplomatic Passports, being arrested by international authorities.

​Former Minister of Agriculture Atherton Martin is suggesting that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit should resign. Martin was speaking on St. Kitts WINN FM Radio with Journalist Ken Richards, on 29th January 2017.
 
Martin believes Mr Skerrit should follow the teachings of integrity from the late Premier Edward Oliver Leblanc, and should resign, due to what he calls mismanagement of the country’s economy. Martin has more:

​A release from the Dominica Business Forum states as follows:
 
“The Dominica Business Forum (DBF) is hosting a Private Sector Forum on 10th February at the Fort Young Hotel, from 8:30am to 5:00pm. This one-day forum is designed for the inclusion of the entire private sector of Dominica to bring together members of its’ partner organizations, and non-members, seeking to strategize the way forward for our private sector, and our contribution to the economic development of Dominica.
 
The Forum includes presentations on: the Citizenship By Investment Programme as it relates to the Dominica Private Sector, presented by the Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit; an overview of the Private Sector by a private sector business person; the Caribbean Growth Forum (CGF) by the CGF Secretariat on the intentions and economic growth opportunities for Dominica; initiatives DOMLEC, as our electricity provider, have undertaken to contribute to the development of the private sector; an overview of our agricultural industry and its private sector role in relation; and highlights, concerns and recommendations from the telecommunication sector and how the NTRC aids in the development and direction of the private sector.
 
The partners of the DBF - Dominica Employers’ Federation (DEF), the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association (DHTA), the Dominica Coalition of Service Industries (DCSI), the Dominica Association of Industry and Commerce (DAIC), the Dominica Manufacturers’ Association (DMA), the Dominica Builders and Contractors Association (BCAD) and the OECS Business Council (OBC), will present on their sub-sectors to foster better understanding on their various functions in creating the development of Dominica’s private sector. The Forum will conclude with discussion to formulate a strategic roadmap for the economic development of the private sector”. 

​Minister for Agriculture Johnson Drigo says the government is awaiting an additional 5Million Euros from the European Union Development Fund for the completion of feeder roads here.
 
Drigo made the remarks at a handing over ceremony of agricultural equipment last week.
 
He also called on farmers to take up their responsibility for their maintenance of the feeder roads upon completion.

​Meantime, Drigo says the National Authorizing Office has shown continuous support towards the Ministry of Agriculture.
 
He also noted the equipment received will seek to improve the service offered to the farming sector.

​Minister for Agriculture Johnson Drigo

​The Government of Dominica has awarded a contract to AK Henderson Construction Ltd for One Million Six Hundred and Forty-Two Thousand, Three Hundred & Eighty-Four Dollars and Twenty-Nine Cents ($1,642,384.29), for the construction of a 12-residential unit building to accommodate 12 families affected by the December 26, 2016 fire.
 
The estimated duration of the project is six and a half months. The official ground-breaking and contract signing ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday 31st January 2017 at 3:30 PM, at the Silver Lake site.
 
Actual commencement of works is scheduled for February 1st 2017, and the completion of the building is expected by mid-August 2017.
 
The other families displaced by that fire would be accommodated in the currently constructed Phase II apartment building, targeted for completion by mid-February.
 
This Phase III project is said to be an integral part of Government’s enhancement plan for Silver Lake.