Two weeks before the anticipated inaugural flight of a new chartered flight service from Florida's Ft. Lauderdale International to Melville Hall, Tourism Minister Robert Tonge, without even recognizing it, gave Dominicans a hint of what was to come, compliments of his children. Mr. Tonge, an unmitigated disaster of a tourism minister, posted on his Facebook account an image of several paper planes that were created and given to him by his kids. Mr. Tonge should have known then that this was divine providence.
Island Fun Tours, the company that announced the new air charter service has proven to be the failure we anticipated. Blair Webb, the head of the company, has proven over time to be a purveyor of pie-in-the-sky businesses and a serial liar, not unlike Roosevelt Skerrit. That countless Dominicans fell for this ruse again says a lot about us as a people. But then again, Dominicans continue to drink the Kool Aid that Mr. Skerrit regularly dispenses without hesitation. Look no further than the recently concluded by-election in the Soufriere constituency for all the evidence you need.
Mr. Webb was the central figure in another bogus airline called CIT Airways which promised the same service to Dominica from Ft. Lauderdale at the end of 2014 as his current incarnation, Island Fun Tours, promises. CIT Airways burst onto the scene immediately prior to an election; Island Fun Tours air charter service also appeared prior to an election. Coincidence? You be the judge.
While Dominica continues to languish behind its neighbours in visitor and cruise ship arrivals and stay-overs, Mr. Tonge continues to manfunction at his job. The consequences for Dominica are dire. Our foreign exchange earnings will continue to drop precipitously and our people will continue to survive by begging. Dominica is on the verge of becoming a full-fledged nation of paros; we beg for our sustinence and Mr. Skerrit provides the rum to quench our thirst. The classic definition of "paroism".
We need an expert in tourism at the helm of this critical industry. The Roosevelt Skerrit administration has effectively neutered the country's agricultural sector and appears to be working assiduously to do the same to its fledgling tourist trade. Mr. Tonge as Tourism Minister is as useful as a box of wet matches; he is woefully incompetent and is clueless as to what needs to be done to spark a revival of this industry. Mr. Tonge is now spending an inordinate amount of time on Facebook soliciting feedback from residents of the Roseau Central consitituency about what they consider the "burning issues" in their community. Pardon our ignorance but we simply must ask; is Mr. Tonge the Minister of Community Affairs? Why is Mr. Tonge's solicitation tagged to the Facebook page of "Alo for Roseau"? Has Mr. Tonge taken up the post of campaign manager for Alvin Bernard?
We again call on Senator Robert T.M. Tonge to resign. Sir, you are an incompetent buffoon masquerading as a Tourism Minister. You would do yourself some justice and restore some semblance of respect to the "Tonge" name by exiting the public office you occupy currently and return to your insurance business, and stay there.
With Respect.
Is that the same 'Air Dominica' that Boople sang calypso about?
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