No UWP nominees to a National Bipartisan Reconstruction Committee until Parliament ratifies its TOR

​Recently Dominica’s Prime Minister and DLP Administration Leader Roosevelt Skerrit, announced his Government’s plan to create a National Bipartisan Consultative Committee for Reconstruction, in the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, he said the body will consist of five members of parliament: two from the opposition and three from the Government.
 
He said the matter was discussed and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, and he had written to the UWP Leader later that same day, to inform him. Skerrit says “That consultative body will be ratified by motion in Parliament, to ensure the seriousness with which the Government is proposing it, and the cabinet will accept and carry out its function in that manner.” This initiative is said to be similar to the National Reconstruction Advisory Committee which Government formed after the passage of Tropical Storm Erika in 2015, which has proved to be ineffective to date.
 
Leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) Lennox Linton confirmed receipt of a letter from PM Skerrit, and said the contents were slightly different from the impression provided by the Prime Minister. Linton says his party will not name any nominees until Parliament agrees to the terms of reference for the National Bipartisan Consultative Body.

​Additionally, the UWP Leader says the sudden call by Prime Minister Skerrit for a bipartisan approach, after indicating publicly right after Hurricane Maria, that the inputs of the UWP and its Leader were not needed, is as a result of the pressure placed on Dominica’s Prime Minister by International Government agencies and donors, to be inclusive, and to increase transparency.

​Leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) Lennox Linton