From the early days of his entrance into politics, Roosevelt Skerrit has been involved in some form of crookedness. From his subversion of Pierre Charles to his defrauding the state in land transfer fees, to his illegal status as a parliamentary representative to offshore companies and bank accounts that conceal millions of dollars siphoned from our treasury, to his latest criminal actions at Silver Lake, Mr. Skerrit has immersed himself in all sorts of chicanery and criminal conduct. Yet, Dominicans continue to sit on the sidelines.

The smoldering flames of the Boxing Day fire at Silver Lake was not completely extinguished before Mr. Skerrit directed his friends to destroy all evidence of a potential criminal act. Oblivious to the crime scene tape that cordoned off the site and with smoke still drifting up from the ruins, Mr. Skerrit, with his hand-picked caretaker for the Roseau South constituency Jahisiah Benoit by his side dressed in winter clothing in the tropical heat, ignored the presence onsite of police and fire investigators and proceeded to direct the destruction of any trace of evidence that a crime may have been committed.

Crime scene tape cordoned off the suspicious fire at Silver Lake

It is important for us to understand that Mr. Skerrit did not interfere with the investigations into this fire. Mr. Skerrit actually prevented an investigation from ever getting off the ground. Why would Mr. Skerrit prevent professional investigators from determining the cause of this fire? Does Mr. Skerrit know something that he wants hidden from the public? Let's face it, this is not new territory for Mr. Skerrit. The investigation into firebombing of the home of Mr. G.O.N. Emmanuel has been stymied by Mr. Skerrit and at least one of his top lawyers, Stephen Isidore. Mr. Skerrit declared numerous times on political platforms leading up to the 2014 general election that he had knowledge of who was responsible for the fire at a building housing communication equipment at the Melville-Hall airport. The police, led by one of the most incompetent commissioners ever, are yet to question Mr. Skerrit about what he knows about that fire. Now there's Silver Lake. Mr. Skerrit seems fond of covering up suspicious fires.

Mr. Skerrit's actions are criminal. He has caused the destruction of evidence and has potentially subverted the course of justice. This fire could have been a criminal act; anecdotal information reaching us suggest that some believe a "boozeye" may have been the fire's ignition and source of accelerant. Was Mr. Skerrit aware of this and is he trying to protect someone? After all, he has been protecting Earl Grant and Denny Shillingford for several years now, hasn't he?

Mr. Skerrit wants the people of Silver Lake to believe that he, and only him, is their knight in shining armour. He has declared that there will be no Radiothons for the people of Silver Lake, fully cognizant of the fact that this one of the primary methods used for raising badly needed funds employed by his political opponents. Mr. Skerrit wants to subvert any effort by the current parliamentary representative for the Silver Lake community, Joshua Francis, that is beneficial to that community. Because he wants his man, the Snowman as parliamentary representative at the next election.

Heavy construction equipment clearing site of fire

To ensure that all evidence of a potential crime was destroyed, Mr. Skerrit summoned heavy construction equipment to the site of the fire and demanded the immediate cleanup of the area 14 hours after the blaze, promising to replace the now-burnt houses with even better homes. He promised $1,000 to the displaced residents and Wednesday, on cue, the three stooges Reginald Austrie, Catherine Daniel and Justina Charles, paraded the poor displaced residents of Silver Lake in front of the cameras to present them with their cheque.

How certain are we that Mr. Skerrit will follow through quickly on his promise for better housing for our fellow citizens at Silver Lake? We can't be. In fact, we know Mr. Skerrit is going to fail. Look no further than the disaster that is Goatville. How long did it take for these apartments to be occupied? And what about the displaced residents of Petite Savanne? Sixteen months after Tropical Storm Erika, are they all settled into new homes yet? So, when do you really think the people of Silver Lake are going to get into new homes?

This is all part of a political strategy. Jahisiah Benoit, a man-boy who came appropriately dressed and prepared for a winter wonderland of snow in the aftermath of a raging fire, is being set up to challenge current Roseau South MP Joshua Francis. If history is any guide, we can expect Mr. Skerrit to string along the residents of Silver Lake long enough to be in a position to grant them housing relief on the eve of the next election. We're betting that Jahisiah will be the one handing over the keys, probably dressed as Santa Claus.