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).

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Summary
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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.

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Public Integrity Commission off to Rocky Start
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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.

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Early Elections?
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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.

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Transport, Airport Woes Continue
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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.

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COMMENT
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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