DOMINICA POLECON ROUNDUP

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000166 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2019 TAGS: PGOV KCRM PREL INRB XL SUBJECT: DOMINICA POLECON ROUNDUP Classified By: CDA D. Brent Hardt for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) The Government of Dominica continues to suffer from small-time leadership, a perception that corruption is out of hand, and a lack of momentum in developing infrastructure for growth. The newly formed Integrity in Public Office Commission is operational, but hamstrung by lack of resources, while even some in government complain that inefficiency and a lack of vision is squandering scarce resources on unsuitable projects while missing significant opportunities in developing geothermal, water, and eco-tourism projects. End summary. -------------- - Public Integrity Commission off to Rocky Start -------------- - ¶2. (SBU) The Integrity in Public Office Commission (PIC) was formed in September of 2008, after a long delay following passage of the Act in April, 2003. The Commission consists of the chair plus six commissioners, and has the statutory authority to investigate the financial affairs of public officials. According to Commission Chairman Julian Johnson, the body is understaffed, short of resources, and is off to a rocky start despite dedicated leadership and good intentions. Johnson said the Commission has just faced its first set of complaints, brought by investigative journalist and radio personality Lenox Linton. Linton made a number of allegations about Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, including questioning the financing of the PM's US$375,000 house on a public salary of US$2250 per month. Johnson said the Commission was unable to hear this or other complaints raised by Linton due to the timing of the alleged acts, which occurred before the commission had been formed. This lack of retroactive authority, Johnson lamented, has already seriously eroded public confidence in the Commission and its work. -------------- Early Elections? -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Ron Green, head of the opposition United Workers Party, speculated that the global economic slowdown had not yet caught up to Dominica, and that the government would probably be wise to call early elections before conditions worsen. Green also trotted out the party's standard list of government abuses, including the US$26-30 million that disappeared in the Layou river project and the firing of the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructural Development Ambrose George for allegedly receiving a 100,000 US dollar bribe for granting a offshore banking license to a convicted money launderer. Green said former UWP head Earl Williams, who absconded with millions of dollars in client funds and is thought to be living in the US or the UK, is unlikely to return to contest a seat in the next election, despite rumors that PM Skerrit would cover Williams' debts as long as he runs on the government ticket (a highly unlikely prospect, said Green). Green said a focus of his party would be to push for renewable energy, but was otherwise vague on the specific party platform. -------------- Transport, Airport Woes Continue -------------- ¶4. (U) Minister for Economic Development and Urban Renewal Julius Timothy renewed to emboffs his longstanding concern that the nation's development is not on the right path and that some large-scale projects have not been well vetted. In particular, he complained about the project to improve Melville Hall Airport, claiming that, when finished it would still be inadequate for widebody international arrivals, and hoped that there would be funding for a new airport not far from that current site. Timothy lamented the position of the airport, as the runway leads from the Caribbean straight into the mountainous interior. This prevents planes from landing directly from the water as they would not be able to abort a landing without risking a crash into the mountains. These conditions prevent anything but small regional planes from landing, keeping Dominica from being able to accept U.S., Canadian or UK widebody flights. Timothy was concerned that the Venezuelan-funded and constructed extension of the runway into the sea, and the EU-funded addition of night lights, would not fix these problems and was thus wasted money. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶5. (C) Dominica's government continues to be plagued by inefficiency, perceptions of corruption, and a lack of public confidence. The current leadership crop has few bright spots, starting with a Prime Minister who often appears out of his depth with regional colleagues and easily susceptible to influence by neighbors with strong personalities (such as PM Gonsalves in St. Vincent) or big checkbooks (notably, Venezuela). Underdeveloped transportation infrastructure that keeps the island nation relatively isolated, an economy still driven mostly by small-scale agriculture, and a bad run of luck recently with hurricanes have also been drags on development and have left the poorest of the OECS countries vulnerable to a growing drug trade and outside political influence. That said, the country has real potential as a tourism destination, and there are some in the country that have a vision and a good marketing plan to develop Dominica as the Green center of the Caribbean through strong support for alternative energy generation and eco-tourism products. ¶6. (U) Post is following up on PIC Chairman Johnson's request for assistance for his commission with a request for a volunteer visitor program to bring the commission members to Washington, DC to meet with public corruption offices and agencies, such as OMB, GAO, White House Counsel, FBI and various OIG offices. Providing such training and assistance to the fledgling commission could go a long way towards improving rule of law and anti-corruption efforts in Dominica, and thus remove at least one of the development hurdles facing the country. ¶7. (SBU) Bio note: Ron Green became the head of the UWP when Eric Williams resigned at the end of July 2008. Green was a former Minister of Education and Sports and has also worked in the NGO community with the Dominica Christian Council. Green has taken an increasingly confrontational stance against the government over corruption issues. The UWP under his leadership has issued mass protests and has promised to be uncooperative with government. With the worsening economy and continuing probes into corruption, Green believes that they have a legitimate chance to win the next election and prefers to take a hard line against the government in order to make a clear distinction for voters. End Comment. HARDT