The Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association, in partnership with other key industry stakeholders, will host its 12th Annual hiking festival,HikeFest 2020 in the month of May. This year the popular hiking festival highlights the trails of our ancestors, under the theme: Neg Mawon: The Survivor Spirit. “This year’s HikeFest will concentrate on the contributions of our African ancestors, and their journey through the lush rainforests of Dominica. The hikes will take place every Saturday of the month and will feature historically popular trails including segments of the Waitikubuli National Trail”. HikeFest forms part of Tourism Awareness Month in May 2020 annual calendar of events.  The objective of Tourism Awareness Month is to increase the public’s awareness of the Tourism & Hospitality industry’s economic, cultural & social contributions.
 
Executive Vice President, Kevin A Francis says, “This year’s HikeFest will concentrate on the contributions of our African ancestors, and their journey through the lush rainforests of Dominica. The hikes will take place every Saturday of the month and will feature historically popular trails including segments of the Waitikubuli National Trail”.The association is also predicting this to be one of the biggest HikeFest to date.The Schedule for HikeFest 2020 is as follows:



1. May 2nd – Jaco Steps. (Intermediate)
2. May 9th - Night Hike – Fresh water Lake Loop Trail (Easy)
3. May 16th – Neg Mawon Trail (Pont Casse to Castle Bruce) (Intermediate)
4. May 23rd – Syndicate Loop Trail – Children’s Hike (Easy)
5. May 30th – Morne Diablotin (Advanced)
 
Hike Fest is not exclusively for experienced hikers; all featured trails range from easy to moderate. Still, a qualified tour guide, as well as first aid responders, will accompany the group on each hike to ensure safety.All groups and individuals are asked to gather at the Prevost Cinemall at 5:30am for briefings and departure.

General Secretary of the Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU), Thomas Letang is requesting that public officers who have been in vacant position for years without appointments refrain from blaming the commission for not being appointed.
 
Letang says the union will not independently appoint any individual to a permanent post without recommendations from the permanent secretary.

​To civil servants Letang says ‘Doing nothing will not assist you”. the general secretary also alluded to an education drive initiated by the union.

​SU General Secretary, Thomas Letang.

Crime Stoppers Dominica (CSD) recently held a community education session for the East in the Kalinago Territory which forms part of CSD’s national gender-based violence project which aims to empower communities to speak up on cases of abuse and gender-based violence using Crime Stoppers Dominica’s easy, confidential and accessible reporting system.The event took place at the Salybia Primary School in collaboration with the Kalinago Council.
 
The community education session sought to improve the public’s knowledge of Crime Stoppers Dominica and how it can be used as a confidential medium to report crime, increase awareness of the unacceptability of gender-based violence, voyeurism, sexual grooming, underage sex and rape and of the law regarding mandatory reporting.
 
The session was attended by members of the public from the Kalinago Territory and Castle Bruce as well as representatives of various community groups, government organizations, and schools in the area. A presentation was made by the Bureau of Gender Affairs on types of gender-based violence and how it affects victims, their families and the community. Social worker/Counselor and Executive Director of Lifeline Ministries, Mrs. Tina Alexander also shared her knowledge on the Sexual Offences Act with focus on mandatory reporting, grooming, voyeurism, hush money, marital rape and referral pathways.
 
The session concluded with a panel discussion that included the Parliamentary Representative for the Salybia constituency and Minister of the Environment, Rural Modernization and Kalinago Upliftment, Cozier Frederick, Mr. Austin Cyrille, Mrs. Anette Thomas-Sanford and Ms. Willa Cyrille. The panelists highlighted several aspects of gender-based violence including limitations to reporting and explored new initiatives to encourage reporting of gender-based violence issues.

​Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit contends that the 2020 carnival celebration was a great success.
Speaking at live public address the he extended words of thanks to those who participated, from children to adults.
He says that all reports show a violence free carnival, and this is something that is commendable.

​Skerrit also recognized the village carnivals and said that he would like to see the village carnivals be a more integral part of the events calendar.

​Meantime, Skerrit is calling for a consultation on carnival so that discussions can me held between heads of Bands, Groups and the floats. He shared some of his views as it relates to actions that could be taken to bring carnival forward.
 
Mr. Skerrit said “…. yes, carnival is primarily for us to celebrate and be part of, but we also have to understand that it is an export commodity.”
 
Skerrit is now calling for a cruise tourist package where tourists on cruise ships can be part of Dominica’s celebration and have their own band when they get off the Boat.

​Skerrit also addressed some of the comments being made about the resurfacing of the roads specifically the carnival route just for carnival. He said whenever one has visitors to their homes, you do a little sprucing up to the place, but this is not the Roseau Enhancement project.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit

​Social Activist Loftus Durand gives his congratulatory remarks to the many patrons and participants of the 2020 Calypso season.Speaking to QFM news on Wednesday Mr. Durand said this year had little to no calypso controversy and that the Main event was well Judged.He gave the new 2020 Calypso King Jaydee his respect for delivering a wonderful performance.

Mr. Durand did however have some constructive criticism as he shared some of his observation and concerns over the level of nudity and alcohol abuse being embraced during carnival celebration.
 
Durand added that Dominica’s culture is unique and we need to focus on what makes us unique, and place less emphasis on alcoholism and nudity.

​He said we need to re-educate our people on the foundation of our celebration, and through knowledge, our people will know better and do better.

​Social Activist, Loftus Durand

​One of the Pioneers of Bouyon Music in the Caribbean; Cornell Phillip, is appealing to all Music Producers and Bouyon Artists to collaborate on matters of music business.
 
Phillip says advancing Bouyon music to an international level within the next decade, will require event organizers, producers, artists, and managers here to put aside their foolish egos and unite from a business front, which will result in the global exposure, similar to the successful format utilized by St. Lucians, Trinidadians and Jamaicans. Phillip spoke to Q95 news on Wednesday.

​One of the Pioneers of Bouyon Music in the Caribbean Dominican Cornell Phillip

​Secretary Treasurer of the Waterfront and Allied Workers Union (WAWU) Kertiste Augustus has announced the Union’s completion of three major negotiations on behalf of employees at: Josephine Gabriel &Company Ltd, West Indies Oil and Flow Dominica.
 
Speaking to Q95 news on Wednesday, Augustus said although the year has started well for the Union, there are still some negotiations which are not complete with companies like; DOMLEC, DOWASCO, the Marigot Cooperative Credit Union, and the Dominica Infirmary; however progress is being made toward this goal.

​Secretary Treasurer of the Water Front and Allied Workers Union (WAWU), Kertiste Augustus

According to (OECS Sports) The Commonwealth of Dominica has entered the spotlight in the 2020 edition of the Olympic Games, with female triple jumper Thea LaFond meeting the standards for this year’s showcase. LaFond reset her (OECS) women’s record in February, reaching 14.33 metres at the 2020 University of Albany Winter Classic Competition in New York. That puts Lafond who is also a University of Maryland graduate, in position to return to the Olympics, having previously competed at Rio 2016.
 
For this iteration of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo (24 July to 9 August) the qualification system for athletics has been adjusted by global governing body, World Athletics. Qualification standards have been set, but there will also be a maximum field. In other words, no more than a certain number of athletes will be entered in each event, based on the world rankings at a particular cut-off date.
 
Dominica’s first and only Commonwealth Games medallist also ended up with a 13.92m bronze in triple jump at Gold Coast 2018, she is ranked 21st in the world at the time of writing. A total of 32 athletes will be entered for women’s triple jump.
 
Triple jump featured for Dominica at the country’s first Olympic appearance, Atlanta 1996. But for the most part, participation has been in track events. In what will be the nation’s seventh appearance at the Summer Olympics, LaFond will be aiming to better her disappointing 37th place from 2016. After all, she says her pre-qualifying performance “feels like this is just the beginning.”
   
OECS Qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 (21.2.20) are:
 
·         Thea LaFond, Women’s triple jump – Dominica
·         Anderson Peters, Men’s javelin throw – Grenada
·         Lindon Victor, Men’s decathlon – Grenada
·         Eldred Henry, Men’s shot put – British Virgin Islands
·         Kirani James, Men’s 400m – Grenada
·         Kyron McMaster, Men’s 400m hurdles – British Virgin Islands
 
Lafond’s 7th February mark at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in New York City surpassed the Olympic standard by a centimetre. LaFond, the first woman from the OECS to make the Tokyo 2020 standard, aims to improve further.

​The ‘Undisputed King’, Charles “Sour Sour” Isaac has recaptured the Carnival Road March title with his popular hit “I Enjoy My Life.”
 
The announcement was made on Wednesday by Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Dominica Calypso Association Deryck “De Hunter” St Rose.
According to St. Rose, the three songs that dominated the road on Carnival Monday and Tuesday were Sour Sour’s “I Enjoy My Life”, Jay Dee’s, “Mama that is Mas” and Tasha P’s “Treadmill”.
 
“On Monday Jay Dee had 67 plays, Tasha P had 64, Sour Sour had 80 and on Tuesday Jay Dee had 80 plays, Tasha P 77, Sour Sour 77,” St. Rose revealed. The tabulated average showed that Jay Dee got 147 plays, Tasha P 141 and Sour Sour 157 earning him the title of Road March King for 2020 with his popular calypso “I enjoy My life.”
 
The calypsonian received a cash prize of $3000.“It’s important to promote what we have,” the PRO said.Sour Sour first tied for the Road March title with the Hurricane in 1994 with his very popular ‘Cool Pipe’. He also won in 2011 with “No name, No Warrant” popularly known as “Yaw Yaw” and again in 2019 with “Grinder”.

​Seven persons have been arrested in relation to a series of burglaries which occurred between September 2019 and February 2020.
 
According to Superintendent in Charge of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Davidson Valerie, the burglaries happened in the Roseau area, Canefield and Morne Daniel.
 
“On Monday 3rd, February 2020, acting on information received, the CID conducted investigations which resulted in the arrest of seven suspects in relation to the report,” he said. “During the investigations, 6 television sets, 4 laptop computers, 8 cellular phones, 1 computer screen, 1 PlayStation game control, 1 Rolex watch, 2 gold chains, 1 pellet rifle, 1 pair of TN Sneakers, EC$1,100 in cash were recovered.”
 
The superintendent stated 25 of the cases reported during that period were solved, “after the suspects admitted to entering the various premises.”
 
“Six of the suspects have already been charged with burglary and handling stolen goods in relation to some of the matters and have appeared before the magistrate’s court,” the police officer revealed.
 
He said they were remanded into custody. “Other similar charges are expected to be brought against the suspects at a later date as investigations continue,” Valerie stated.