The relocation of the Fond Cole Landfill, the creation of a brand new mall and a commercial hub are some of the major priorities brought forward by United Workers Party (UWP) candidate for the Roseau North upcoming By-election, Daniel Lugay.
He was addressing the Dominica Business Forum public discussion held at the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital (DCFH) on Wednesday night.
“For urgent address is a hazardous Fond Cole Landfill also known as ‘Labass’. This will be relocated out of the constituency to a more suitable location,” he revealed. “The Labass has long outlived its usefulness and has now become a major health hazard with frequent uncontrolled fires, cancer-causing smoke and toxic fumes.”
Another major health hazard in Roseau North, Lugay mentioned, is the collection and management of garbage.
“We see garbage pile up for weeks without collection, attracting flies, mosquitoes and rats,” he remarked.
Moreover, he stated that universal health care for every single Dominican is a solemn promise of the UWP Leader, Dr. Thomson Fontaine and Team Dominica.
Arguing that the Labour Party administration has been promising a vendors arcade for 26 years, he proposed that a brand new mall in Roseau North will create employment for hair-braiders, manicurists, massage professionals, artisans, painters, small business owners, local pharmacists, chefs, restaurant owners, and musicians.
Lugay said the commercial hub will begin from the Public Works Corporation property all the way to the Dominica Banana Marketing Corporation (DBMC) building, which includes the DEXIA warehouse and the Home Industries site.
Meanwhile, Dominica Labour Party (DLP) candidate, Ashma McDougall, said her first priority for the Roseau North Constituency will be housing.
“So first, housing. A home is not just concrete and steel. A home provides security, dignity, and it is a transferable asset across a family,” she said. “We must expand access to safe housing and ensure that development includes drainage and roads and proper lighting.”
According to her, while the $1 per square foot legislation has afforded opportunity to land ownership, government recognizes that measures are coming to drive the same affordability to home ownership.
“Second, we must re-engineer the entrepreneurial ecosystem that fuels business growth,” McDougall stated.
Furthermore, she pointed out that two weeks ago her team met with small business proprietors in the Roseau North Constituency.
“And through that, we identified over 250 small businesses across 20 sectors in Roseau North,” she revealed. “ That is not a shortage of ambition. It is an economic base waiting to be energised and to be strengthened.”
McDougall added, “Too many good businesses remain trapped at survival level. And we recognise that access to financing remains a challenge.”
However, she noted that access to financing cannot fix it alone.
“I will champion a pathway from start-up through market readiness and where possible, export,” she emphasized.
McDougall went on to state that temporary income can provide relief, but sustainable work is what fuels independence.
“And so the employment solution is two-fold. First, developing pathways for employment through the digital economy and training capacity to increase employability among our youth,” she asserted. “With the Dominica Labour Party’s infrastructural investment development nexus on the horizon, we must connect training to real opportunities in construction and hospitality and across the service sector.”
She explained that the government has already realized the success of Work Online Dominica, and this initiative “can connect the single mother in Stockfarm, Yampiece, Tarish Pit, and the young man in Fond Cole hamlets with credible remote opportunities that offer lucrative income without abandoning home.”
