Text: PM Roosevelt Skerrit on Cost of Living

[Dominica Elections]

Dear Dominican,

Prime Minister Skerrit addressed the nation on Sunday evening on the
Cost of Living and Creation of Jobs at a historic rally in the back
yard of the Leader of the Opposition, La Plaine, Dominica.

Below is the text of the PM's address to the nation:

Address to the Nation by
The Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit
Political Leader of the Dominica Labour Party
Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica
At La Plaine, Dominica
December 13, 2009

Fellow Labourites! Friends of Labour, Freedomites, Workers…Dominicans
from all walks of life.

I am told that this is easily the largest political gathering in the
recent history of Dominica. It’s well into the late evening and
vehicles are still headed to La Plaine. This is a wonderful day for
Labour.

It is the perfect backdrop against which to launch the final phase of
this general elections campaign. To date, Comrades and Friends, we
have out-campaigned the opposition at every turn in this process.

We are meeting tonight, just five nights before the start of polling
and it is an absolute shame and disgrace that up to this very moment,
the United Workers Party has not set forth a plan or a programme for
taking Dominica forward.

We do not expect them to take Dominica to the next level, but at least
they should have been able to say how they will sustain the quality of
life we now enjoy and how they hope to improve upon it. Rather, we
have had three weeks of Skerrit vilification. My question for the
United Workers Party tonight is how will the demonization and
vilification of Roosevelt Skerrit assist in their quest to govern this
country? How will cursing Roosevelt Skerrit in every language known to
man assist in reducing the cost of living? How will it help combat
crime and violence in Dominica? How will it create jobs for
Dominicans?

This is a serious issue, Ladies and Gentlemen, because if by some
miracle the United Workers Party were to win next Friday’s general
elections, we have no idea of what to expect as a nation come January
1st, 2010.

Here you have a party with no leader; A party with no candidates of
note; A party with no vision and a party with no policies. And this is
the party that wishes to form the next government of Dominica.

Persons monitoring meetings and radio programmes of the United Workers
Party have commented to me that they find it strange that that party
never focuses on its leader, Ron Green. Up to yesterday evening, the
last Saturday of the campaign, they had a near six hour programme on
Q95, and never once mentioned the name, far less promoted the
leadership, of Ron Green.

What does this tell you, Ladies and Gentlemen? It tells me that they
are not proud of Ron Green. That they have no confidence in Ron Green
and that it is not certain that if they were to win the government
that Ron Green would be their leader.

I am authorized to tell you this evening, ladies and gentlemen, that
when the Dominica Labour party wins the election on Friday, December
18th that Roosevelt Skerrit of Vielle Casse shall be retained and be
returned as the Prime Minister of Dominica. Ron Green cannot say that
tonight, Ladies and Gentlemen, because there is a big question mark
hanging over his leadership.

There is a big question mark hanging over the future of the United
Workers Party, because no one knows for sure what would happen in the
unlikely event of it winning the next election.

That is why I am saying tonight, ladies and Gentlemen, that you cannot
afford to gamble with the future of this country. You cannot leave
sure for unsure.

It is very likely, from all that we have seen and garnered from this
constituency of la Plaine, that Ron Green will lose his seat next
Friday evening. He has failed to represent the people of La Plaine and
the people of La Plaine will not forgive him this time around. Petter
St. Jean is on course for a resounding victory here in the La Plaine
constituency and I am urging each and every La Plaine voter within the
hearing of my voice to go out early next Friday and vote for Peter St.
Jean and the Dominica Labour Party.

I spoke earlier, Ladies and Gentlemen, about the absence of a clear
vision and plan by the United Workers Party. They came with 20
European-devised pledges that have not resonated in the country, so I
am told they are hustling about this weekend to find another 20 to
present to their supporters in Newtown on Tuesday evening. Can you
believe the gall of the United Workers Party?

Less than 60 hours before the start of polling is when they are hoping
to present a plan of action to the people of Dominica. That is a royal
insult to the intelligence of the people of Dominica. That reflects
their state of un-readiness. That explains their unsuitability for the
governance of Dominica at this time.

If they cannot get a plan ready in four a half years, how can they
implement that plan in 24 months? The UWP is playing with the lives of
70 000 Dominicans and we must reject that action as out of hand.

Ladies and Gentlemen, you have had ten days to view and review the
manifesto of the Dominica Labour Party. You are therefore aware that
in the next term, we will increase the pace, the number and the scope
of our capital projects. We have identified the sources for funding
these projects, which will result in the creation of more jobs to more
Dominicans.

This will translate to more income in the average household, thereby
improving the ability of families to cope with any pressure arising
from the cost of living.

You will agree with me, ladies and gentlemen, that the Labour Party,
in Government, has been your champion, and has always moved quickly to
introduce measures to at least enable you to maintain your standard of
living at the slightest threat of its erosion due to rising prices;
rising prices that often have been outside the ability of Government
to control directly, because of the high import content of our
purchases and consumption.

Lest you forget, I will quickly remind you of some of the measures we
have put in place to ensure that more money was in your pocket to
provide for the needs of your families:

1. We removed the excise tax on fuel used by DOMLEC by 50%, thus
reducing your electricity bills by 6%.
2. Negotiated with DOMLEC for a reduction of 2 cents per kilowatt hour
on your light bill.
3. With the assistance of the Government of Cuba, provided you with
energy saving light bulbs. This represented a saving to you, the
consumers, of approximately $8 million in the first year.
4. We exempted the payment of VAT on the first 100 units of
electricity you consumed.

Ladies and gentlemen, our tax reform programme has had the effect of
providing you with more disposable income. Under this programme, which
commenced on 1st January 2008, we have progressively:

• Increased the tax free allowance threshold to $20,000;
• Reduced the rate on the first $20,000 of taxable income to 15%;
• Reduced the rate on the first $30,000 of taxable income to 25%; and
• Reduced the rate on taxable income above $30,000 to 35% .

Today, my friends, all pension incomes are exempt from payment of
income tax. We have also brought relief to taxi operators by exempting
the payment of import duty on new and under five years old vehicles
used in tourism transportation.

Our social protection policy, has sought to bring relief to families
by relieving them of the recurring cost they would have had to incur
in meeting some basic commitments including those they would have to
meet on a daily basis. We have therefore made more cash available to
single mothers and heads of households through:

• A one shot schools transfer grant of $500 to assist children of
needy families in moving from primary to secondary school;
• Acquiring school buses or contracting with bus owners to transport
children to and from school in the rural areas;
• Providing a grant to all day care and early childhood centres so
that parents are not called on to meet the full operating costs of the
centres;
• Providing daily care for 248 elderly throughout the country and
employing 43 caregivers to do so.

I have revisited some of these achievements of the Labour Government,
because many of our detractors pretend that they do not exist, while
some of you, who have grown accustomed to them, may be inclined to
take them for granted.

Brothers and sisters, because we are a caring Party and Government, we
constantly keep our eyes on events at home and abroad that can have an
impact on the cost of living.

While available information tells us that we have been spared the
worst effects of the global recession, the truth is that we are not
yet out of the woods. Many authoritative sources, including the World
Bank, have recently warned that the major global economies, China
excepted, are not likely to show signs of recovery before the last
quarter of next year.

Most of our member states in CARICOM have however been severely
negatively impacted by the global crisis and in the case of the OECS
the Central Bank has had to intervene to stabilize the fiscal
situation in at least two member states and I will make a statement
tomorrow on the part played by Dominica in this intervention by the
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.

Ladies and Gentlemen, while we will continue to exercise the vigilance
and the fiscal prudence that have insulated us from the worst effects
of the recession, we must prepare for the impact an extended recession
is likely to have on you and your loved ones.

We have consulted you at every stage of our tenure in office and also
throughout this campaign to date. Repeatedly, the number one concern
of Dominicans is the cost of living and the pressure that this places
on your ability to make ends meet and maintain your standard of
living.

We are concerned about this and we intend to introduce a number of
measures in the first 100 days of our next term that we believe will
lessen or remove the impact of the cost of living on you.

Accordingly, after consultation with the relevant officials in the
various departments of government and also after drawing on the
expertise of respected economists and financial analysts, I am please
tonight to be in a position to announce some specific measures that
will be introduced within 100 days of our being returned to office.

In so far as this applies to employees within the public service and
statutory bodies, we will within the first 100 days of our new term:

• Regularise the minimum pay, so that all full time employees receive
no less than $1000 per month. This is significant for the scores,
indeed hundreds of low level workers in the government service who
take home some ridiculously low wages and salaries.

We are of the view that in today’s Dominica and given the standards
that we have set ourselves in terms of the quality of life that we
wish for our citizens, no worker in Dominica can survive on less than
$1,000 a month.

Therefore, as a caring government, we will set the lead by moving
immediately upon our return to office to guarantee all full time
employees of the Government of Dominica a minimum salary or combined
wage of $1,000 a month.

• Regularize all positions in the public service; this regularization
will include:

1. The creation of 100 new positions for nurses;
2. Create 150 positions for teachers so as to continue with our
program of the appointment of temporary teachers at all our primary
and secondary schools who have been in the service for a minimum of 2
years;
3. Additionally, create 50 new graduate teacher positions at both the
primary and secondary schools and in the process removing the
disparity in pay between primary and secondary school teachers;
4. Complete the audit on non established workers and appoint a
committee to advise on implementation of the recommendations.


Ladies and Gentlemen, our Party is aware that one of the factors
contributing to the relatively high prices on our supermarket shelves,
is the high freight charges faced by importers. We recognize that
there is little that can be done by the private sector or by
Government to reduce these charges.

However, we believe that every dollar that you can save on the cost of
the basic items you purchase will go a long way in easing your
financial burdens. We have therefore decided that in the first 100
days of the new term, a new Dominica Labour Party Government will:

• Reduce port charges by 20 per cent;
• Increase the number of days goods can remain on the port without
incurring port charges, from five to seven days; and
• Remove all customs duties and port charges on gifts, including
barrels, valued up to $150.

Brothers and sisters, it is our view that the combined effect of these
measures should be that of reducing the cost of the basic goods that
you buy on a weekly or on a daily basis.

You heard me mention this last week; however, I want to confirm today,
here in La Plaine, that in the second week of January, your new
Government will convene a meeting with our employers in the private
sector. This meeting will seek to explore ways, and identify binding
measures that can be taken on both sides, to ensure that maximum
benefits in easing the cost of living can flow to all employees and
the purchasing public.

It is also our intention to initiate a dialogue with the other social
partner, the representatives of Labour, to ensure that any gains made
in reducing the cost of living, remain steady for a reasonable
period.

My friends, information on the status of the Labour market is scant
and anecdotal. What we do know is that it is dynamic and that among
other things jobseekers do not always possess the skills needed for
the jobs that may be available. To address this anomaly, we will
within 100 days, establish an Employment Agency. The agency will have
three functions, namely:

1. To help persons find employment;
2. To provide an allowance to persons who for more than three months,
have been unable to find a job. This allowance will be paid for a
period of up to six months; and
3. Guide jobseekers in acquiring skills demanded by the job market
through the various skills training programmes.

As a member of the OECS family, Dominica will sign the Treaty
establishing the Economic Union in December this year. As a member of
CARICOM, we have also signed the Economic Partnership Agreement with
the European Union, and the CARICOM Single Market and Economy is on
the regional agenda. All these agreements call for the removal, over
stipulated times, of tariffs and other charges on goods imported into
Dominica as well as on services delivered by individuals and firms of
the member states. Goods and services emanating from Dominica, will
receive similar treatment.

My friends, what this really means, is that goods and services
produced by our firms and individuals, will have to be globally
competitive.

In order to assist our furniture manufacturers in particular, in
sharpening their competitive edge, we will adopt the policy of
requiring all government agencies to offer the right of first refusal
to local furniture manufacturers in procuring all furniture items.

In support of this policy, we will strengthen the apprenticeship
programme which allows furniture manufacturers and metal workers to
recruit a certain number of apprentices who are paid a stipend by
Government.

This initiative will create additional avenues of job creation and
contribute to increasing the disposable incomes of families and
individuals.

Additionally, while we already have a rather large list of items
exempted from the payment of VAT, the Value Added Tax, I have
requested the Ministry of Finance and other relevant agencies of
government to review that list and to include a few other items which
traditionally have not been considered as essential, but which in
today’s Dominica are absolutely necessary to maintain the quality of
life and the standard of living that we have set ourselves.

Accordingly, I am happy to say this evening, that within the first 100
days of a returned Dominica Labour Party administration yet a few more
items shall be removed from the list of consumer items subject to the
Value Added Tax.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Cost of Living is Concern Number One. Job
Creation is Concern Number Two. I believe that in the foregoing,
together with the Plan as outlined in our recently released manifesto,
that we have charted a road map for addressing and resolving these two
fundamental issues of concern to Dominicans.

The third and final issue that I will deal with this evening relates
to crime, violence and anti-social behavior. We have outlined specific
measures in the manifesto for dealing with this. However, we wish to
accord a level of urgency to the resolution of this threat to our
peace and serenity and to indicate that the current wish list of the
Dominica Police Force has been submitted to a multi lateral agency
sympathetic to our cause.

We have been assured that the list of request has been favorably
considered and that by March 1st, 2010 the bulk of stated requirements
of the Police Force in terms of vehicles, weaponry, scientific and
technological advances should have been ordered and should have
arrived in Dominica.

Therefore within 100 days of a return to office of the Dominica Labour
Party we expect that the Dominica Police Force would be in a better,
indeed an ideal position to deal with some of the non-traditional
modes of crime and antisocial behavior prevalent in our society.

Additionally, we will embark upon a public education programme to
bring home to parents in particular and to our young people the folly
and indeed absurdity of pursuing a life of crime. We are confident
also that the creation of new employment opportunities and the
establishing of the Employment Agency will go a long way towards
diverting many of our now wayward young people to a more positive,
straight and narrow path.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I started this address by warning of the dangers
of our following blindly the overtures of the United Workers Party.
They have skirted around the issue of their foreign policy.

To date they have not stated emphatically whether they will embrace
and espouse the One China Policy. Saying that you will not break
relations with China is not enough. You do not have to break relations
with China…all you have to do is acknowledge and embrace Taiwan and
relations with China are fractured. I call On Ron Green to state
emphatically tonight whether the United Workers Party endorses and
subscribes fully to the One China Policy.

I call on Ron Green as well to state where they stand in relation to
the sale of Dominica passports and the pact that has been entered into
between the United Workers Party and passport poachers out of the
United Kingdom. Have you or your party, Mr. Green, agreed to grant an
exclusive license for the sale of Dominica passports and is this
intended to be your main source of financing for the promised
international airport?

The Dominica Labour Party has identified how it would raise every last
cent it intends to spend over the next five years. We call on Ron
Green and the United Workers party to do likewise before Thursday
evening.

Tell us how you will finance those 20 pledges and the dozens of others
that you will announce on Tuesday evening. Do not tell us you will not
break relations with Venezuela. Tell us whether you will embrace the
government of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and the ALBA and whether that
administration will be made to feel as welcomed in Dominica as it does
now.

If there will be no change in attitude to China and Venezuela, then
what was all the fuss about and what is the point of changing the
government of Dominica? If there will be a change in attitude, what
are the ramifications of this on the economic wellbeing of Dominica?
These are the fundamental questions we call on Ron Green and his
cohorts in the United Workers Party to answer.

They have spent the past three weeks vilifying Roosevelt Skerrit. I
say to them tonight it is time to face the music and answer pertinent
questions on how they propose to administer the affairs of Dominica.
Again, I warn voters of Dominica, not to gamble with the future of
this country.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am excited about the year 2010. The Dominican
Labour Party has the vision and the plan to take this country forward
and to the next level. We have the leadership and the team to get the
job done. What we seek now is the mandate.

We urge you to go out in your numbers on Friday, December 18th and
vote for the candidates of the Dominica Labour Party. Vote for
continued development and prosperity. Vote for yourselves and for
future generations. I urge you this evening to believe in yourselves
and to believe that together we can and we will take Dominica to the
next level.

Voters of the La Plaine Constituency, in particular, I urge you to
take Ron Green out of his misery and to vote for Petter St. Jean as
your new Parliamentary Representative. Vote in Grand Fond for Ivor
Stephenson. Vote in Castle Bruce for Johnson Drigo. Vote in the Carib
Territory for Ashton Graneau and complete a total sweep of the East by
voting for Dayton Baptiste in Marigot.

Voters of Dominica vote next Friday for the candidates of the Dominica
Labour Party and together, let’s take Dominica to the next level.

I thank you.