Opposition Leader Lennox Linton hopes the National Consultation held Monday signals a new beginning

​Opposition Leader Lennox Linton hopes the national consultation organized by Government on Monday 19th February 2018, signals a new beginning for relations between Government and the Opposition. In his address to the consultation, Linton said he has consistently called for unity after the passage of Hurricane Maria in September 2017.
 
H said, “I stand before you today as the Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition in the Commonwealth of Dominica. As someone who has consistently, since the passage of Hurricane Maria, called for unity of purpose, for inclusion, for joining hands and hearts, in the cause of rebuilding Dominica.”
 
According to Linton, there were times when his call was misunderstood and misrepresented. He added, “That is why I am pleased today to be here at this consultation, in the hope and with the prayer that it is in fact, a new beginning; that it in fact represents a new beginning along the lines of the unity of purpose, along the lines of the joining hearts, joining hands, and doing this together for our Commonwealth of Dominica”.
 
Linton said the climate resilient challenge is not new to Dominica, and Prime Minister Skerrit had said because of the lack of resources, Dominica did not go as far as it could have gone.
 
However, Linton had reservations, saying, “That I suggest to you is a matter for serious debate. We have been pursuing a low carbon climate resilient development strategy since 2012, with support from climate financed donors and development cooperation partners. This consultation deserves to hear how much money exactly we collected, or attracted into Dominica, under the banner of that low carbon climate resilient strategy, and what exactly did we accomplish.”
 
Linton stated that the strategy envisioned specific resilience-enhancing deliverables in renewable energy, protection of carbon syncs, land use planning, natural ecosystems, forestry, slope stabilization, sea and river defenses, water resources, food security among others.
 
He added, “Even so in 2015, Tropical Storm Erika flooded away damages in excess of 100% of GDP; and in 2017, 226% of our GDP went south in devastating winds and flood waters of Hurricane Maria. Ladies and gentlemen, let today’s consultation discuss, and focus on what happened to the resilience we expected, but which did not materialize, and ask whether or not it did not materialize because the climate resilient initiative had no philosophical or cultural moorings, no people consensus, no youth buying, and through it all, the foundation principles of democratic governments were excluded from the leadership and management of national affairs. No inclusiveness, no unity of purpose; instead, we further divided what was not united. No elections of integrity, no fairness, no equity, no equal treatment of all of God’s children, no respect for the constitutional rule of law, no parliamentary oversight for the operations of government, no acts of parliament to articulate and enforce climate resilient behaviors, no transparency, and no accountability to strategic initiatives.”