It has been nearly 8 years since Hurricane Maria, yet all across Dominica, abandoned homes, buBusinesses and vehicles still sit in ruins, untouched, decaying, and dragging our country down. You see them everywhere: collapsed rooftops, overgrown lots, empty, lifeless vehicles. This is unacceptable for any country claiming to be on the path to progress.
The reality is simple: Dominica cannot present itself as a modern, developing nation while it still looks like a disaster zone in too many areas. We say we want tourism, investment, and jobs, but how can we expect the world to take us seriously, invest in a country where parts of our towns and villages look like they were forgotten by time?
Meanwhile, far too many families across Dominica are struggling to find a safe, affordable place to call home. Young families, working people, and the next generation of Dominicans deserve better. Yet perfectly usable land and properties are sitting vacant, rotting away, all because property owners, whether living here in Dominica or abroad, refuse to take responsibility for their property and their role in helping this country grow.
And as we all know that after Hurricane Maria, this government took care of their people, but unfortunately, they left far too many others to fend for themselves. And in the immediate aftermath, we understand that. Resources were stretched. People were scattered. It was a time of survival.
But 8 years have passed, and the time for excuses has well passed. It is now clear that many property owners have no intention of doing anything. These abandoned buildings have been left to rot, while the rest of us work hard to rebuild our lives and communities.
The NEW Dominica Reform Party (DRP) will take action where this government has failed. We will implement policies to ensure abandoned, unsafe, or uninhabitable properties and abandoned vehicles are either:
- Repaired and restored, bringing them back into productive use,
- Torn down and removed as they pose a health, safety, or environmental risk, or
- Transferred or sold to individuals or businesses willing to redevelop them.
For far too long, property and vehicle owners have been allowed to abandon their homes, businesses, and vehicles while communities suffer. They lower property values, attract crime, create health hazards, and destroy the image of Dominica as a country ready to lead the Caribbean.
Enough is enough! The Dominica Labour Party and the United Workers Party have looked the other way for nearly a decade while Dominica remains littered with unsafe, dilapidated vehicles and structures. That is not leadership; it is again negligence. It sends a message to the world that we are not serious about rebuilding, about investment, about being a strong, proud nation.
The NEW Dominica Reform Party (DRP) believes in accountability for government, for property and vehicle owners, and for anyone who wants to be part of Dominica’s future. If you own property and refuse to clean it up, you will face consequences. If you are unwilling to restore your land, someone else will, because this country belongs to all of us, and no one has the right to drag it down any longer.
It is time to stop tolerating excuses. It is time to rebuild, clean up, and show the world that Dominica is rising, stronger, safer, and ready to lead!
Team DRP