On Wednesday, UWP Leader Lennox Linton revealed some shocking allegations and supporting documents illustrating possibleactions by Roseau Central MP and Wife of Dominica’s Prime Minister, Mellissa Popone Skerrit, that may have resulted in short payment of transfer fees to the treasury of the government of Dominica.
 
In a nutshell, Documents indicate that the transfer fees on a large piece of Prime Land at Morne Daniel may have been undervalued by some EC $73,000, as the land was transferred to Mrs. Skerrit by her parents at a record low $6 per square foot, about $14 dollars short of the open market value for land in that area.

According to Section 1 (69) of the Title by Registration Act, any person who fraudulently procured or is privy to the fraudulent procuring of any certificate of title or instrument, or of any noting or entry in the register in respect of any land or title thereto, or to respect with any dealing with land under this act, is liable to a fine of $15,000 dollars or imprisonment for 2 years.

​The UWP Leader is calling on the Dominica Police Force to investigate this issue, saying that the facts warrant investigation, and exposes the Prime Minister and his wife as hypocritical, at a time When the Prime Minister is calling on Business Owners and Employers to pay up some $250 million dollars of unpaid taxes, when he himself may be in the same predicament.

​UWP Leader, Lennox Linton.

​There are presently only four pilot countries that have implemented Digital currency, which is predicted to spread to all eight ECCB Member States.
 
This was revealed by Kechewia Charles Veteran Banker and Risk Analyst in the office of Corporate Strategy and Risk Management with emphasis on Business continuity.
 
Ms. Charles is also a member of the commercialization subcommittee of the ECCB FinTech Committee, which is tasked with bringing the digital DXCD pilot to market.

​She says based on the polls and analysis; it was best fitting to have only four countries within this six-month pilot.

​Kechewia Charles, Veteran Banker and Risk Analyst in the office of Corporate Strategy and Risk Management with emphasis on Business continuity.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) office officially kicked off the new €6.85 million European Union funded initiative on climate change and health with the first Regional Partner Dialogue.This virtual session, held on June 29, brought together representatives from five regional organizations to facilitate discussions on the critical first steps to implement the project across all CARIFORUM member countries.
 
The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), University of the West Indies (UWI), the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Caribbean Climate Community Change Centre (CCCCC) and the CARICOM Secretariat will collaborate with PAHO and lend their technical expertise to the program with a focus on strengthening climate resilience in regional health systems.
 
During the session, Team Leader, Green Economy and Resilience Support at the European Union, Bogdan Stefanescu, expressed the EU’s satisfaction at the strengthening of this multidisciplinary partnership between the EU and the Caribbean in the face of the common threat posed by climate change. He also noted the program’s alignment with the European Green Deal, the EU Health Strategy, and the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change.
 
Initial actions under the program include the establishment of a Climate Change and Health Leaders’ Fellowship Program, development and piloting of project proposals on Climate Change and Health and preparatory work on early warning systems and climate and health surveillance systems.
 
Sixteen countries are expected to benefit from this program.  They are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St.  Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

Chief Cultural Officer Raymond Lawrence says the Cultural Division is offering classes online during the summertime, free of charge.
 
Members of the public are free to join those classes if they log in to the Cultural Division's Facebook page.
 
The classes come on from 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

​Chief Cultural Officer, Raymond Lawrence.

After much research and analyses, Public Relations Officer of the Dominica Manufacturers Association and Former Fisheries Officer John Robin reveals the reasons why there is inadequate supply of Dominican products for export, and the exorbitant costs of these high-quality local products.John Robin spoke to Q95 FM recently.

​Public Relations Officer of the Dominica Manufacturers Association and Former Fisheries Officer, John Robin.

​Housing Recovery Project Manager Nicholas Bruno says there has been a long process of application review to determine the final beneficiaries under the Housing Recovery Project.
 
To date he says 44 persons have been nominated and submitted to the Ministry for Housing, but have the names have not yet been published. The intention is to publish the first set of beneficiaries hopefully next week. The project is funded by the World bank.

​Housing Recovery Project Manager, Nicholas Bruno.

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A national derelict vehicle removal campaign got underway June 30, and looks to get rid of about 500 derelict vehicles across Dominica.
 
It is being headed by the Ministry of Environment in collaboration with the Office of Disaster Management and the Dominica Solid Waste Management Corporation.
 
General Manager of the Dominica Solid Waste Management Corporation Florian Mitchel says based on the law, a removal of derelict vehicle notice is to be issued to the owner and this person has three days to get rid of this vehicle.
 
From then further action can be taken by the relevant authorities.

​General Manager of the Dominica Solid Waste Management Corporation, Florian Mitchel.

​Q95 news has received a copy of an Official letter recently written to Prime Minister Skerrit by the UWP Executive, which reads as follows: “It has come to public attention that on or about June 9th, 2020, the Cabinet decided to impose on the people of Dominica the extraordinary burden of a monthly payment of EC$32,000.00 to rent a palatial residence in Morne Daniel for the Prime Minister despite the availability of the Prime Minister’s official residence at Morne Bruce.
 
The Parliamentary Opposition strongly condemns this morally and legally indefensible abuse of the authority of Cabinet. EC$32,000.00 is more than three times the monthly salary of the Prime Minister and more than the annual income of the vast majority of Dominicans. As Prime Minister for more than 16 years, you are well aware that the Cabinet has no lawful authority for wasteful, uneconomical, bad value-for money spending of public funds. You are also aware that based on established appellate jurisprudence, Cabinet does not have the unfettered right to spend taxpayers’ money in such a capricious manner without public tender or competitive bidding.
 
It is a matter of grave public concern that the residence in Morne Daniel is in the name of Mercury Properties Development Ltd whose sole director is Anthony Haiden of Montreal Management Company with whom you have associated yourself in the unlawful privatization of   over one billion dollars from Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment revenues for the financial year 2018/2019. The lack of transparency and accountability in the utilization of these public revenues raises questions about the source of funding for the Morne Daniel residence and your alleged ownership interest in it.
 
As a testament of the sweetheart arrangements that define the relationship between Anthony Haiden and the Head of Cabinet, the public recalls that the parcel of land at Trafalgar you claimed to have received as a gift while you served as Prime Minister in 2007 was recently sold to Mercury Properties Development Ltd for EC$740,000.00. Mercury Properties Development Ltd is now going to receive from the people of Dominica EC$768,000.00 on a two-year rent deal arising out of Cabinet’s unlawful exercise of administrative discretion.
 
This unconscionable Cabinet decision, a clear abuse of public office for the personal benefit of the Head of Cabinet, is even more reprehensible coming at a time when government has failed miserably to provide from the cash reserves of the state, adequate relief to the people of Dominica suffered from severe financial difficulties on account of the COVID 19 economic downturn.
 
We strongly oppose the use of money belonging to the people of Dominica for corrupt, selfish purposes and demand an immediate revocation of the Cabinet decision to rent the Morne Daniel residence from Mercury Properties Development Ltd for EC$32,000.00 monthly. Should the Cabinet refuse to reverse this decision that flagrantly contravenes the financial regulations for procurement of public services, we will use all legal means and the rights granted to us by the Constitution of Dominica to have this matter resolved in the public interest. 
 
By copy of this letter we are advising the Financial Secretary and the Accountant General to honor their rule of law obligations on behalf of the people of Dominica and refuse to make any payment from the resources of the state pursuant to the unlawful June 2020 Cabinet decision to rent the Morne Daniel residence for the Prime Minister.

​Executive Director of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC) Craig Nesty says internet online access should be a basic human right as stated by the United Nations (UN).
 
The UN has also declared deliberate internet disruptions as a human rights violation. He says just like number portability was advocated for, so too should access to broadband service for all be advocated for.

​Executive Director of the National Telecommunications Regulatory commission NTRC, Craig Nesty

​Executive Vice President of the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association Kevin A Francis says the association continues to scramble to assist members to prepare for the possible opening of the Tourism Industry, as the restrictions imposed on the economy by the state of emergency order, have been removed effective 30th June 2020.
 
This was the response of Kevin Francis when asked by Q95 news on Wednesday, ‘what is the DHTA executive doing to meet the guidelines for offering services to the general public, as the country’s borders and ports are reopening?’

Executive Vice President of the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association, Kevin A Francis