Dominica Breaking News

17/12/2025

17/12/2025

Have you gotten your ham and turkey this Christmas?

17/12/2025

Letter to the editor.

It should come as be no surprise that the Dominica News Online (DNO) article titled, “Anse De Mai jetty project almost complete, confirms PM”, dated Tuesday, December 9th, 2025, at 6:15 pm caught my attention. Having spent two years of my life from 1996 to 1998, at Six Form College in Dominica learning critical thinking it has to worth something and of value to me.

I have grown to appreciate the fact that solving complex life changing problems requires critical thinking and analysis. Without that level of deep thought and actions, the results are often empty, shortsighted and unsustainable. This leads to stagnation and lost opportunities.
To understand why there is a port in Anse De Mai one would certainly have to look through history.

My youthful curiosity led me to question why would you place a port and customs outpost in Anse De Mai. I learned back then that many people would use the natural bay area to move in and out of the French neighboring islands which is located about approximately 25 miles to the north. This allowed Dominicans to board small vessels especially during Christmas season to purchase goods in Marie Galante and Guadeloupe.

Older villagers recounted days when there would be lines of vehicles on the Anse de Mai road awaiting the return of boats from their French shopping spree. In economics that would represent an outflow of cash from Dominica and loss of import revenue from goods brought into the country. If not checked this would result in loss of local businesses that employed Dominicans and purchased Dominican produced goods.

The first creole festivals took place in Anse De Mai during the feast of St. Peters when hundreds of citizens from our French neighbors would litter the bay with their much faster and bigger vessels. They dis-embarked to indulge in a weekend of activities starting from the famous Sea Breeze disco to the Bense primary school. That represented a major boost to the local economy that at the time was coordinated by the main religious organization of the community.

This major economic impact prompted the administration of the day to install a customs and immigration outpost at the Anse de Mai Bay. I vividly remember the first floating Jetty that was subsequently installed with the assistance of the people of the communities of Bense, Anse de Mai, and Anse Soldat under the supervision of the village council. I am curious to find out what was the cost of constructing that jetty at that time.

According to the DNO article dated December 9th the current administration has claimed to spend in the region of XCD4 million dollars for the construction of this a new jetty and customs and immigration building. The article further indicated that a jetty has been lacking for decades. Let me remind citizens that the first jetty was installed in the 1980s and had been damaged over the years by successive storms and wear and tear. Let me also remind the public, and in particular, the people of Anse De Mai and the surrounding communities, that this administration has been in office since 2000. That is a period as long as 25 years, and the people of that community and constituency have voted Matthew Walter, and Rosalind Paul to represent them in parliament with this current administration. To put it in perspective let us assume a population of 1,200 citizens within that constituency. This XCD4 million investment equates to approximately XCD11 per person per month over that 25-year period. How did I arrive at this number?

XCD4, 000,000.00 / 1,200 =XCD3, 333.33 per person
XCD3, 333.33/ 25 = XCD133.33 per person over a 25-year period
XCD133/12 (No. of months in a year) = XCD11.11 per person per month over a 25-year period.
My question to the people of these communities, is this what we are celebrating as development and progress? Instead of referencing the XCD4, 000 daily revenue cited in parliament, imagine that a fisherman has consistently earned XCD1, 500 per month for the past 25 years. It would take nine fishermen to generate that revenue within that 25 year period. I wish to further pose the following questions:

Did we hear anything about the contribution of the fisher folks to the economic development of the community?

Have we heard anything about the revenues generated by the port in Anse de Mai and its importance in the French tourism connection and its economic contribution to the constituency?

Today there is the Atlantic View hotel in Anse Soldat. What improvements and activities have been employed to help boost the tourism arrivals from the French markets that could help increase the hotel’s occupancy?

Government investments in infrastructure as mentioned is to improve the lives of everyone in the constituency and country by extension. This XCD4 million over a 25-year period for a historical fishing community was done to give the impression that they are interested in your growth. Clearly a few fisher folks with a carefully organized cooperative could have generated revenues to dwarf that amount.

Conservative estimates put your parliamentary representative salary at about XCD6, 000 per month. What that tells you is the amount of investment per person per month for that constituency is nothing compared to the salaries we pay unproductive people to represent us. They were deemed to be uncaring and unproductive when they were removed by their master and now replaced by a vessel and this news item seemed like a lot of noise.

Why do we, as a people continue to celebrate superficial actions that only highlight the deep incompetence of the people we have administering our governance? Why do we raise and educate our children to simple just accept empty words and incompetence without careful thought and analysis.

In the 1980s one government saw the importance of ensuring a port and jetty facility was built in Anse de Mai, yet it took 25 years in office and three parliamentary representatives from another administration to celebrate an investment that frankly represents crumbs per constituent. What is the plan moving forward? Where is the critical planning? Where are the economic data from the fishing industry in the community? When one looks at the potential contribution of the fishermen to their community compared to the investment in their industry for the past 25 years it is clear that the fishermen who voted for representation all these years were not a priority.
It’s time to wake up my people, remove the blinkers from our eyes, get engaged and challenge these individuals who were elected to represent us and have failed to do so. The time is NOW!

Lennon Matthew.

17/12/2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
United Progressive Party Statement on US Visa Sanctions Against the Commonwealth of Dominica
"A National Crisis Born of Government Negligence and Deception"
ROSEAU, DOMINICA-December 17, 2025
rhe United Progressive Party views with grave concern the recent proclamation by US President Donald Trump to suspend visa privileges for Dominican nationals, a devastating consequence of he current administration's reckless mismanagement of our Citizenship by Investment Programme.

rhis unprecedented action by the United States - suspending entry for Dominican nationals as mmigrants and restricting B-1, B-2, F, M, and J visas - represents a catastrophic failure of governance that now punishes every single Dominican citizen for the negligence and dishonesty of their government.

A Programme Built on False Promises.

For years, this government has assured the Dominican people that rigorous due diligence procedures were in place to protect the integrity of our citizenship. These assurances have beer exposed as deliberate falsehoods. The United States administration's characterization of the Dominican passport as a security liability confirms what some of our leaders, including the leadership of the United Progressive Party has long warned: the current government prioritized revenue over reputation, profit over prudence, and political expedience over national security.

[he government maintained a Citizenship by Investment programme without residency requirements while systematically failing to implement the thorough vetting processes the, claimed were protecting our nation's good name. Now, innocent Dominican citizens -students seeking education, families visiting relatives, businesspeople pursuing opportunities, and immigrants building new lives- face the consequences of failures that were never theirs to bear.

Every Dominican Pays the Price.

These sanctions affect:
• Students whose educational dreams in American universities are now in jeopardy Families separated by new barriers to reunion

• Business professionals whose livelihoods depend on international mobility

• Our diaspora whose connection to their homeland is now complicated by their own government's failures

• Our international standing as a respected member of the Caribbean community

This is not merely an inconvenience. This is a national emergency that threatens the future prospects of an entire generation of Dominicans through no fault of their own.

A Clear Path Forward

The United Progressive Party calls for immediate action:

1. Full transparency regarding the failures in the CBl programme's due diligence processes

2. Complete cooperation with United States authorities to address security concerns

3. Immediate reform of citizenship vetting procedures to international standards

4. Accountability for those responsible for this national disgrace 5. A Bipartisan Commission of Inquiry into the CBI.

However, the ultimate remedy lies with the Dominican people. This government has demonstrated through its negligence, its dishonesty, and its failure to safeguard our national interest that it is unfit to govern. Only a new administration, committed to transparency, integrity, and the restoration of our international reputation, can right these wrongs and restore the dignity that every Dominican deserves.

rhe United Progressive Party stands ready to rebuild what this government has destroyed - the trust of our international partners, the integrity of our institutions, and the promise of opportunity for every Dominican citizen.

The time for accountability is overdue. The future of every Dominican depends on it.

For media inquiries, please contact: Joshua Francis Email: [email protected] I Website:www.uppdominica.com

HomeDiplomacyUnited Progressive Party statement on US Visa sanctions against the Commonwealth of... DiplomacyGovernmentImmigationLawOppositionPoliticsPublic RelationsRegional/InternationalTourism/TravelTrade United Progressive Party statement on US Visa sanctions against the Commonwealth of Dominica...

17/12/2025

Statement by the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, the Honourable Gaston Browne, on U.S. Visa Restrictions
December 16, 20250

STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, THE HONOURABLE GASTON BROWNE, ON US VISA RESTRICTIONS

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has taken careful note of a proclamation issued by the Government of the United States suspending, with effect from 12:01 a.m. on 1 January 2026, the issuance of United States visas to nationals of Antigua and Barbuda.

We are deeply disappointed that Antigua and Barbuda has been included in this proclamation on the stated ground that our Citizenship by Investment Programme has historically operated without a residency requirement. That assertion does not reflect the present reality of our laws.

Over the past year, Antigua and Barbuda has worked closely and constructively with several departments of the United States Government to strengthen safeguards within our Citizenship by Investment Programme. We have engaged in good faith, accepted practical suggestions, and taken concrete steps to ensure that our programme presents no risk whatsoever to the security of the United States.

As part of this process, the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda has recently enacted comprehensive new legislation strengthening every aspect of the Citizenship by Investment Programme, including due diligence, transparency, information-sharing, and enforcement. Importantly, this legislation introduces a mandatory 30-day physical residency requirement in Antigua and Barbuda as a strict condition for qualification for citizenship.

It is therefore an error to state that Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment Programme operates without a residency requirement.

Immediately upon the issuance of this proclamation, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders, contacted the United States Department of State. He was informed that State Department officials were themselves surprised by the proclamation and had received no prior notice of its issuance.

Ambassador Sanders has since initiated arrangements for urgent, high-level engagement with the State Department and the White House to clarify the matter, to present the full and accurate facts, and to begin the process of resolving this issue with a view to restoring normal visa access for citizens of Antigua and Barbuda.

In parallel, I am writing directly to President Donald J. Trump and to the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, offering the full engagement and cooperation of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to address any concerns and to take all reasonable steps necessary to allow for the restoration of all visa categories.

Antigua and Barbuda values its relationship with the United States, a relationship that predates the independence of both our nations and is grounded in long-standing ties of friendship, shared democratic values, and close people-to-people connections. The United States is Antigua and Barbuda’s most significant trading partner and continues to enjoy a substantial and consistent trade surplus with our country.

The Government will do everything within its power to ensure that the excellent relations between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States continue on the basis of mutual respect, cooperation, and accurate understanding.

STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, THE HONOURABLE GASTON BROWNE, ON US VISA RESTRICTIONS The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has taken careful note of a proclamation issued by the Government of the United States suspending, with effect from 12:01 a.m. on 1 January 2026, the is...

17/12/2025

Explanation of why Dominica is on the US travel ban list

17/12/2025

Government of Dominica issues statement in relation to the US visa restrictions.

17/12/2025

Consumers and businesses can look forward to a major boost in holiday shopping activity after Parliament approved an unprecedented amendment to the VAT Act, making Saint Lucia’s first VAT-Free shopping day possible. On December 16, 2025, during the first sitting of the Thirteenth Session of Parlia...

17/12/2025

President Donald Trump addresses Venezuela. More information in the comment box.

17/12/2025

Letter to the editor.

I am writing to express my profound disappointment with King Ocean and the continued lack of reliability in its service to Dominica. Numerous businesses depend heavily on this company to transport their goods, particularly during critical periods such as the Christmas season.

Time and time again, Dominica appears to be treated with disregard. On this very morning—when King Ocean was scheduled to dock—the vessel bypassed the island entirely, leaving businesses uncertain and unprepared. Many companies are relying on these shipments to meet customer demand, fulfill obligations, and sustain their operations during one of the most important commercial periods of the year.

This repeated failure raises a serious question: who will compensate businesses for the losses incurred as a result of this incompetence? Delays of this nature are not merely inconvenient; they are financially damaging and undermine confidence in the company’s ability to provide dependable service.

Given these ongoing issues, it may be in the best interest of Dominican businesses to consider alternative shipping providers. While companies such as Tropical Shipping may be more costly, their reliability and consistency appear to justify the expense.