Senator paints bright future for Dominica at town hall meeting

WIC News report

The Goodwill Primary School hall was packed to its rafters as it hosted the Democratic Labour Party’s Roseau North town hall meeting on Thursday night.

The first speaker for the night, Senator Miriam Blanchard, engendered the kind of enthusiasm from the crowd that most first-time candidates could only dream of.

Though yet to face the electorate, her exuberance was perhaps fuelled by the portfolio which she holds, as minister of public works and ports.

Blanchard’s address chronicled the expansive modernisation of the capital city, from the newly constructed West Bridge, to the ongoing Stock Farm road rehabilitation (worth $3.17 million) and the imminent development of a sports facility in the same area, which is also home to the Dominica State College.

“Within the next few days, a contract to design an indoor multipurpose facility is going to be signed. It’s going to be a facility that is going to accommodate netball, basketball, volleyball, tennis courts and an Olympic sized swimming pool,” she charged.

“This is yet another example of your government’s commitment to the development of the young people of this constituency and this country.”

Referencing Tuesday’s unveiling of the $3.05 million plan to rehabilitate Charles Avenue, Blanchard reminded the audience of the employment opportunities to be derived from the road works when they commence.

Citing the ongoing flagship hospital redevelopment project as an example, she revealed that “93 Dominicans are employed on that [the hospital redevelopment] project”, adding that “EC$5.6 million has been spent in Dominica, buying building materials, paying labourers and heavy equipment operators for that project".

Minister for Housing and Lands, Reginald Austrie, reflected on the success of the transformative housing projects in Bellevue Chopin, Grand Bay and Silver Lake, before asserting that “if we tell you we can do it, we will do it".

“The time will come when you will have to decide in whose hands you want to put the future of your children. The time will soon come when you have to decide what kind of Roseau North you want. That choice is in your hands. The Dominica Labour Party is the only party that has a philosophy, of taking care of the less fortunate.”

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit concluded the meeting by explaining that the event was hosted so he and his party could interact with the constituents with an eye to better representing them.

He told the audience that he recognised a lack of representation both in Roseau North and in Newtown, where he met with residents just hours before last night’s town hall, and promised to address this dearth by uniting.

“Let us work together and put aside our political differences and recognise that if you work with the government, life can be better for you.”