Dominicans stuck overseas will be brought back home, says PM Skerrit

The Prime Minister of The Commonwealth of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit has addressed the country regarding the response of the Government on the COVID-19.

He said that he is proud to report tonight that we are not daunted; and that through your sacrifice, the heroic efforts of our essential workers and the help of friendly Governments, Dominica is manfully meeting the moment.

The Prime Minister said that the COVID-19 pandemic is not something which was expected, but let the history show that this generation came together, organized and sacrificed and defeated a quintessential threat to Dominica.

He said that the battle against the pandemic is far from over, and additional threats lie on the horizon. Still, Dominica is determined to push on with awareness, understanding, and discipline.

The leader pointed out that the Government is conscious that the interest of the people must be at the centre of every measure that the Government take.

The Prime Minister, while talking about the people who have lost their income because of the COVID-19 pandemic he said that help is underway for the people who have lost their incomes or are facing a period of deep uncertainty.

He then turned attention towards the business sector and said that the business sector is an essential partner in the country's quest for development and empowerment, and the Government shall work with the business sector to ensure that it remains viable; and that the business sector will be able to thrive again.

The Prime Minister assured the Dominicans stuck overseas that, the Government will continue to work on various protocols that will soon allow them to return home.

Further, he talked about the present situation of the virus in the country and said that Dominica, has no active COVID-19 cases.  All of the 16 confirmed cases of the virus in the country have successfully recovered, and no deaths have been recorded from the virus so far.

However, he said that now is not the time to let the guard down.

He said that the measures taken to protect the people from the virus have infringed the freedom of the people, but, the measures are necessary to ensure everyone's safety.

He noted that although there is no active case at the moment in Dominica, yet it is important to do community testing, to determine whether there is community transmission that has gone undetected so far.

The Prime Minister said that Dominica has already spent almost 22 million dollars in the direct costs in the country's response to the pandemic so far and that there will be increasing demands to spend more, even when the revenues are plummeting.

Skerrit explained that collections from Personal Income Tax had declined by 12 per cent; Corporate Income Tax had declined by 91 per cent, Value Added Tax declined by 34 per cent, Excise Tax 30 per cent and Import duties by 19 per cent for the month of April 2020. Also, there has been a decline in CBI revenue.

He said that the taxes collected by the Customs Division are also estimated to decline by an average of 30% for the months of April to June 2020 and that the taxes collected by the Inland Revenue Division are also projected to fall by an average of 20% for that same period.

The Prime Minister said that this shall be seen from the context of a country which is still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria less than three years ago.

Skerrit informed that early on, with the assistance of the Central Bank, the Government had engaged with financial institutions to provide relief to customers from payment of loans, mortgages and credit card debts. In most instances, customers had the option to defer payments for a period of up to 6 months, and many people are taking advantage of that option.

He said that the Government has also extended the deadline for the filing of personal and corporate income tax returns, and the payment of income tax was extended by three months for companies with the financial year ending in January 2020 to June 2020.

For the benefit of the business sector, he said that the Government has also considered waiving penalties for businesses that enter into payment plans within six months of the new payment deadline, for amounts due in respect of the same tax periods.

To cope with the pandemic, the budgetary funding to the Ministries of Health and Agriculture have been increased in the country.

The Ministry of Health, because it is the lead Ministry in our response to the pandemic; and Agriculture because what has been made clearer than ever before is the importance of enhancing our food security; and in improving export earnings from this sector.

We are also committing to spend an additional 10 million EC dollars under the Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC), of the Emergency Agriculture Livelihoods Project.

Support will be provided to crop and livestock farmers. This will include the provision of planting materials, essential inputs such as fertilizer, small farming implements and animal feed.

To assist with meeting the cost of farm labour and other direct costs, cash grants have been approved to approximately 2,500 individual crop farmers.  The amount of these grants is based on the size of the farmers holding. Farmers with small holdings will receive grants of EC$700, medium holdings EC$1,400 and large holdings EC$2,800.  This intervention is valued at EC$3.5 million.

We also have an ambitious seedlings program, as well as direct assistance to pork and poultry farmers.

The full details of the depth of our assistance plans for the entire agriculture sector will be unveiled this week by the Ministry.

We are confident that the interventions by the Government will help lower the food import bill, reduce household expenditure, improve dietary quality and increase sustainable employment.

He encouraged the residents of the country to produce as much as possible while Government would do its part to ensure that there are markets available for the sale of their produce.

The Government would also purchase fresh produce and fish from farmers and fishers who are prepared to sell directly to the Government.

A part of this produce would be distributed to the most vulnerable in the communities. An amount of $3.0 million has been set aside for the purpose of facilitating this programme.

He further added that plans and policies are being put in place to stimulate other sectors of the economy, especially in the construction sector, which would impact the employment positively.

For the time being, schools, in terms of the traditional gathering for classes, will remain closed in the country. Alternative methods of teaching, such as online training, are continuing and being encouraged further.

The Prime Minister, urged for the continued cooperation and support of the Dominican people so that Dominica can come out of the pandemic and he thanked all of the frontline workers and essential service providers for their yeoman service to their fellowmen and country.

He ended his address by saying that while the current pandemic is unprecedented in many ways, Dominica is confident that through the grace of God, through the Dominicans working together, and through the determination and spirit, Dominica will once again rise.