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Volume No. 1 Issue No. 40 - Wednesday April 02, 2003 |
Why Depend on the US or the IMF? by: C. Germain
The repercussions from the current economic situation in Dominica are far reaching and probably have gotten to this point because of the island�s dependence on Europe for survival.
An island with such plentiful resources and fertile soil, situated amongst other islands, which are not as blessed, should not be undergoing the kinds of difficulty that presently confronts us.
It is my opinion that rather than depend on the United States and/or the IMF to bail us out that it is essential that we take drastic measures to utilize our God-given resources to become an island that is more self sufficient.
Take for example the citrus industry. I recall as a child, the times when England would purchase citrus and other major agricultural products from the island and resell to Dominica in a different form such as orange and limejuice.
Dominica�s current situation has a lot to do with our continued dependence on others for making use of our resources and then having almost exclusive determinant rights in prices, amounts exported, etc.
Now that we have arrived at this juncture, rather than making the same mistakes and allowing the IMF or anyone else to give us loans with massive unreasonable conditions, I would like to suggest the following:
1. Why don�t we invest in our local people and select top students to be trained in international type programs with the stipulation that they must return to the island on completion of the program.
2. Since there are more Dominicans away from the island rather than on the island, the government should offer incentives for Dominicans to find it profitable to return home.
For example, if the government currently owns land, it can offer land sales at large discounts with the stipulation that any purchaser of said land be a Dominican or Dominican descendant, and said person would have to construct and/or utilize the land within two years, for example.
3. The government can join forces with local landowners and ask them to participate in such land sales to increase foreign exchange on the island.
4. The fertility of Dominican soil makes it ideal for the agrarian exploitation of a number of other fruits and vegetables currently not considered for exportation. For example, maybe the focus of bananas and other ground provisions should not be completely abandoned but in addition, orange groves, lemon groves, any other fruits, cactus, anything that we can export to other islands, Asia or any other country willing to pay for such products. Dominica may want to focus on the exportation of organically grown products.
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