UWP leader Lennox Linton addresses Dominicans on 1st Anniversary of passage of Tropical Storm Erika

​UWP leader Lennox Linton addressed Dominicans on the occasion of the 1st Anniversary of passage of Tropical Storm Erika. His address read as follows: Fellow Dominicans at home and abroad, one year ago, our country was devastated by the deadly flood waters of Tropical Storm Erika.
 
Over thirty of our brothers and sisters mainly from the community of Petite Savanne lost their lives in a national disaster that left us reeling, with widespread damage to roads, bridges, the national airport and other components of our public infrastructure.
 
The growth engines of our economy especially agriculture, tourism and manufacturing were severely battered. Hundreds of jobs disappeared disrupting the means of livelihood for thousands whose lives were torn apart, in some cases, beyond recognition.
 
We empathize with the members of our Dominican family who lost loved ones, all those who remain displaced and all those who are still enduring the pain and hardships from Tropical Storm Erika one year later.
 
In the challenge to recover and rebuild, the support from friendly countries, development cooperation partners, our diaspora family members and our friends around the world was outstanding. We thank them all and encourage them to continue to stand with us, as we seek to complete the task of reconstruction.
 
Our hope and prayer is that with more focused patriotic leadership action that prioritizes and executes with excellence in the public interest, it will not be long before the national reconstruction effort delivers the greatest livelihood restoration benefits, to all our brothers and sisters yearning for return to normal living conditions and a better quality of life.