​President of the Dominica association of Persons with Disabilities (DAPD) Irma Raymond Joseph has announced the Association’s plan to engage village councils around the island, in an effort to educate community leaders on the importance of looking after the elderly, prior and post Disaster events, such as Hurricane Maria in 2017.

President of the Dominica association of Persons with Disabilities (DAPD) Irma Raymond Joseph spoke to Q95 news on Monday.

​Bishop of Roseau Gabriel Malzaire has commended the efforts of PM Roosevelt Skerrit and his cabinet for their approach towards the reconstruction of the island following Hurricane Maria, and has pledged the support of the Catholic Church in the 'Build Back better' Dominica initiative.
 
Bishop Malzaire was speaking at the national reconstruction consultation on making Dominica the first climate resilient country in the world.
 
He says there are many more people in other countries affected by the effects of climate change and it is left to us on how we approach these issues.

​Bishop Malzaire says it is a 2-way approach that requires a high level of discipline on the part of everyone.

​Bishop of Roseau Gabriel Malzaire

​Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise tells CARICOM Heads to confront climate change together from a position of strength.  He also wants a new mechanism for disaster risk funding that would assist affected Member States to quickly recover and reconstruct. The thinking behind the call for a new mechanism was to ensure that funds for reconstruction are channeled through “affordable and effective procedures, rather than be paralyzed by the expectation of unlikely assistance, which in most cases is too little, comes too late and, sometimes, never happens”.
 
The President of Haiti who is the current Chairman of CARICOM, addressed the opening ceremony of the Twenty-Ninth Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM in Port-au-Prince on Monday, and placed great emphasis on climate change, natural disasters and funding for recovery. He advised that he was organizing an international conference aimed at strengthening the mechanisms of resilience to the effects of climate change, and the management of natural disasters in the Caribbean.
 
“This will be an opportunity for the States, partners and international development actors to exchange ideas and make proposals on the best features of prevention and responses to natural disasters. Without your full participation, this conference will not be successful. You are, already, invited,” he said.
 
In his address President Moise said he was assuming the Chairmanship of the Community, at a time when it was grappling with the effects of extreme weather caused by global warming. The “sometimes permanent damage and losses” that were consequences of natural disasters slowed the socio-economic development of countries in the Region, and prevented them from achieving sustainable development goals, he said.
 
No stranger to devastation from natural disasters, Haiti is still suffering the effects of the massive 2010 earthquake that killed about 300 000 people, left a similar number injured and more than a million and a half displaced. It continues to be affected by natural weather phenomena including floods and hurricanes.
 
Disaster Management and Recovery is among the matters the Heads of Government are deliberating on, during their two-day Meeting.

​Confident of his New National Party (NNP) being returned to power in the March 13th general election, Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell has promised to move speedily with the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) after the polls.
 
Under the NHI, Grenadians will be able to access a range of health services. The government said the insurance plan is geared towards making health care affordable and accessible.
 
Speaking at an NNP rally, Prime Minister Mitchell said the implementation of the NHI will be a top priority after the polls.

​President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has had his White House security clearance downgraded, US media are reporting. Mr. Kushner, a senior adviser to the president, had been receiving top-secret security briefings.
 
However, background checks into Mr Kushner had still not been completed, so he had interim clearance only. He and other White House aides who have yet to receive permanent clearance will not now get top-secret briefings.
 
Mr. Kushner, who is married to Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka, had access to the President's Daily Brief, a secret intelligence report. 

​Pastor and Executive Member of the Dominica Association of Evangelical Churches (DAEC) Randy Rodney is urging government authorities and Leaders in Society to be reliable for the people of Dominica.
 
Many have dismissed the credibility of some persons in authority in Dominica, because of their habit of making promises and pronouncements which sound appealing to the ear, but in most cases, fail to deliver on those promises. Rodney spoke at a National Consultation held on 19th February 2018.

Meantime, Rodney says resilience cannot be properly addressed without consideration being given to a well-articulated vision, which must include the entire population, and harnessing of all its human resource capital. Rodney made the comment at the national consultation for reconstruction of Dominica.

​The DAEC has also presented proposals to government, which it believes will create new godly successes in rebuilding Dominica.

Dominica Association of Evangelical Churches President, Randy Rodney

​President of the Dominica Cycling Association Ronald Charles has announced the winners of the association’s third qualifying race, which was held on 25th February 2018.
 
Charles says there were 8 positions for this race. 8th place went to Kim Williams; Benjamin Daniel came in 7th place; 6th place went to Danelle Jno Jules; Ronald Charles came out 5th;  Brams Anderson in 4th place; 3rd place went to Levi Baron, 2nd place was cupped by Edison Raudette, and 1st place went to Koaff Baron.
 
The Cycling Association President says these are qualifying races leading up to the historical OECS Cycling Championship, which will be held in Dominica on 1st July 2018. Charles also announced the winners of the mountain bike course.

​Charles has also extended invitations to all Dominicans to come out on 4th March 2018 to support the cyclists in the Association’s forth qualifying race, which he says will be a very short route.

President of the Dominica Cycling Association Ronald Charles

​Minister for Information, Communications & Technology Kelver Darroux says classes are expected to recommence soon at the ICT Centre of Excellence. Darroux says part of the centre which is located at the Dominica State College Campus is presently being utilized by DSC Students. He advises that the Indian tutors will be returning to resume their roles at the centre.

Meantime, Government says it is committed to assisting schools whose ICT programs were affected by Hurricane Maria.
 
Minister for ICT Kelver Darroux says just last week, Government received funding to refurnish the computer labs of 2 secondary schools.

​Minister for ICT Kelver Darroux

​Former Chairman of the Giraudel/Eggleston Village council Ashworth Williams has commended government of for the installation of washroom facilities in the twin communities. He says many residents used these facilities as a safe haven during the passage of H. Maria.

​Meantime Williams is calling on the Solid Waste Management Corporation to review the schedule for garbage collection within the 2 communities.

​Former Giraudel/Eggleston Village Council Chairman, Ashworth Williams

The Parliamentary Representative for the Portsmouth Constituency Ian Douglas has expressed disappointment in the United Workers party for not contributing to the Build back better initiative.
 
He says that the national consultation held last week is proof that the Government is committed to building Dominica back better.
 
Mr Douglas has challenged members of the UWP to bring forth an initiative to the people that will support the build back better initiative.

Meantime Mr Douglas has also expressed his disappointment in the political representation of the parliamentary representatives for the Roseau Central Roseau North and Roseau South constituencies.

​Parliamentary Representative for the Portsmouth Constituency, Ian Douglas