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| Gas Lighted |
There ought to
be a moment when the people of Dominica must recognize that the “it’s politics” attitude is
detrimental to their social and economic well-being and that it is important to issue an
uncompromising dichotomy between obligatory truth and the willful intension by
governing politicians to keep a people Gas lighted. It is simply unacceptable
that PM Skerrit and his Labor Party administration are allowed to play games
with the socioeconomic well-being of people, particularly after the harrowing
aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
Last week the
PM Roosevelt Skerrit unabashedly indicated that Dominica has become a
destination of choice for foreign investors and that investors are now eager to
come to Dominica for investment opportunities. As always, the prime minister
conveniently selects an environment where flattering journalist will allow him
to make blanket and dishonest statement without having to account for these
statements with facts and veracity. Unfortunately this is the kind of journalism that we expect from the likes of Curtis Mathew.
Conventional
trends indicate that Foreign Direct Investment tend to flow towards dynamic
economies. In 18 years the DLP
administration was unable to create a model for sustainable growth in the
Dominica economy. With an average growth of less than 2% over 18 years and in the aftermath of Maria where the
economy is grappling and the social and physical infrastructure is frail,the old adage is becomes timely-only fools would
rush in where wise men fear to tread.
According to PM
Skerrit because “government has conducted the affairs of the island in a
responsible and transparent manner” Dominicans should be on the lookout for an
influx of foreign investors. The evidence on the ground show otherwise. Instead
of seeking to employ policies and strategies for positioning the country as an
attractive investment destination for productive investors, the Roosevelt
Skerrit administration had spent the better part of its 18 year stint destroying
national competitiveness and formatting a handout society.
Even as the
prime minister fibbed about the wellness of the investment climate in Dominica,
he and the Parliamentary Representative for the Portsmouth constituency Ian
Douglas, have presented a thunderous silence on the Ross University matter. In
the interest of transparency the prime minister should present to the public
the concerns as expressed by the Ross University- the deficiencies with the social
and physical infrastructure(airport) and the inefficiencies in the execution of public
services. A good question to ask at this juncture is – why is Ross University
not leading the charge back into to Dominica?
Two weeks ago it was reported that the prime minister allegedly shunned a meeting that was scheduled with representatives from the Ross University. According to sources
close to the government administration the Ross Representatives and others waited on the prime minister for almost 4
hours while the prime minister kept making all type of excuses and eventually never showed up for that
meeting. We understand that the Ross University Representatives felt quite
insulted and left in disgust.
Considering the
significance of Ross University to the people and economy of Dominica, there is
nothing besides a family emergency (god forbid) that should have been more
important than showing up to cajole an expedited return of Ross University to
Dominica. There is simply no place in this present day Dominica and
particularly the Ross University matter for the prime minister’s arrogance and deception. We are talking about a PM playing narcissism with the livelihood and economic well-being of thousands of people in Dominica.
It is worth
noting that it was just a few days after the prime minister disrespected the
people from the Ross University that he fired off another blast of “gas-Lighting. He created this phantasm about the foreign investors rushing into Dominica in
an effort to down play the disastrous outcome of the meeting with Ross
University. It was an insidious attempt to calm the anxiety among the people,
especially the people who have investment interests in the Portsmouth area .
Shouldn’t the people of Portsmouth and
everyone else with invested interest in the Ross University be upset with the
prime minister’s behavior? But then again the Prime minister has perfected the
art of Gas Lighting a people who are so receptive of his gimmicks. Some of the prime minister’s worshippers or victims
, particularly those in the Portsmouth area have already begun justifying the
disrespect that prime minister has shown the Ross University representatives.
According to a resident of Portsmouth and a former Ross employee “those people
from Ross are too rude to ask our PM for a meeting.”
According to
social scientist Gas-lighting “is a narcissist’s masterful manipulation
technique used to gain control over their victims. It is a form of mental abuse
in which information is twisted or spun, selectively omitted to favor the
abuser, or false information is presented with the intent of making victims
doubt their own memory, perception, and rationality.” It has also been
established that extreme or long term gas lighting can ultimately lead to
victims having a distorted sense of reality, not knowing what is right or
wrong, or losing self-confidence.
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