VAT “Relief” Another Political Showpiece, Not Real Help.

The government of Dominica has recently introduced a new list of VAT-exempt items, claiming it will bring relief to struggling families. However, upon closer examination, this list appears to be more of a publicity stunt than a genuine economic intervention.

We are told we no longer have to pay VAT on canned sardines, toothpaste, sanitary napkins, and orange juice. But where is the tax relief on the things that truly matter, to name only a few, rice, chicken, flour, sugar, fresh vegetables, ground provisions, cheese and eggs? These are the daily necessities that ordinary, everyday Dominicans depend on to feed their families.

Instead, this government insults our intelligence with a list filled with token items:

• Salted herrings.
• Cornmeal
• Ccanned tuna
• Ketchup

This government is not just out of touch; it is disrespectful. It appears that they sat in a room, threw together a few random pantry items, and said, “That should shut them up.” They did not bother to ask, listen, or care about what real Dominican families need.

These are not solutions; they are Public Relations props, carefully chosen to look helpful on paper, while doing nothing to ease the real cost of living in Dominica. It is a cynical game, and the people of Dominica are the ones paying the price for their political theatre.

And let us also not forget the glaring contradiction: there is already no VAT on fresh fish bought directly from our local fishermen, a longstanding exemption that had nothing to do with this new announcement. Yet now they want applause for including canned fish on the list, as if they are breaking new ground. They are rebranding existing realities and pretending they are gifts.

This is political theatre, not economic policy. While families across Dominica are tightening their belts to deal with soaring prices, the Skerrit administration offers VAT exemptions on canned herring and Cream of Wheat, but leaves rice, flour, sugar, and chicken, four of the most consumed staples in the country, fully taxed. It is absurd.

What we got instead is a shiny announcement meant to distract us from the real crisis. This is not leadership; this is marketing. And it is not helping. Dominicans deserve serious policy, not symbolic gestures. We need relief that shows up in our grocery bills, not in a government press release.

Import Duty Exemptions That Help No One — Unless You Are Shipping Orange Juice for Fun.

And the absurd does not stop there; the Skerrit government continues with import duty exemptions on a new list of items that does not even look impressive on paper and still does little, to help real Dominican families or those in the diaspora trying to support them.

We are now told that there will be no import duties on the following items:

And once again, we have to ask: who exactly is this helping?

Let us start with the obvious: No one in the diaspora is shipping orange juice, almond milk, or tomato ketchup to Dominica. It is not only impractical, it is absurd. These are bulky, heavy, and perishable items. Even if they arrive, they are often more expensive and less useful than local or regional options.

Meanwhile, the real essentials, like flour, sugar, rice, cooking oil, cleaning supplies, seasonings, school supplies, clothing, footwear and baby supplies all remain fully taxed and fully burdened. The very items our people depend on most, the ones families try to include in barrels and boxes from abroad, are left untouched.

Who is shipping pigeon peas and canned corned beef from the U.S., Canada or the UK? These are relatively the cheapest things to buy locally, so this duty exemption will not even lower local prices. And yet again, the things that do come in barrels still get slapped with customs charges and VAT.

What Real Relief Should Look Like And Is Being Offered By The NEW Dominica Reform Party. (DRP)

• Introduce a Single, Flat-Rate Fee for All Barrels.
• Eliminate Double Taxation.
• Ban Arbitrary and On-the-Spot Fees.
• Make the Entire Port Fee Structure Transparent.
• Encourage Increased Diaspora Engagement.
• Boost Revenue Through Fairness, Not Exploitation.
• Recognize Barrels and Crates as Lifelines, Not Luxury Imports.
• Stop Punishing Families for Helping Each Other.
• Rebuild Trust Between Citizens and Public Institutions.

Instead, we get another policy made for press conferences, not people. Another list of products that no ordinary family asked for, and that will not make one bit of difference at the checkout counter, or in shipping barrels or boxes.

But the really good news is that there is no VAT on rice, flour, sugar, milk, or baby formula, if you are planning to export it off the island. This is the kind of insulting madness we have normalized. This is the broken system we continue to accept. While ordinary Dominicans struggle to feed their families, the tax breaks are designed to benefit exporters, not our people. It is all a con-game, and Skerrit plays it masterfully, banking on our silence and distraction.

Chasing Applause.

Skerrit’s government, like his wife Melissa, keep chasing applause with empty gestures, hoping we will confuse performance with progress. But this announcement does nothing to solve the real crisis, the crippling cost of living, the daily burden on working families, and the frustration of the diaspora who want to help, but are slapped with brutal customs fees, duties, and VAT for simply trying to support their loved ones.

Nothing meaningful will change because of this, because Skerrit is not addressing the root of the problem, he and his government are just managing the optics. And the people? We are still drowning. This is not relief. It is a performance. And just like every stage show, it only works if the audience ( We ) clap. That is exactly what they expect us to do: cheer for scraps, while they live in luxury.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when Melissa Skerrit proudly and fearlessly posted on Facebook that her son had received a high school scholarship—one specifically designed to help young Dominican children from struggling families? A scholarship meant for kids whose parents can not keep up with the rising cost of books, uniforms, or transportation. Families who wake up each day just trying to make ends meet, now being pushed even further by added administration fees, tuition, and the cost of basic supplies.

And why did Melissa Skerrit take this opportunity and brag about it? Because she wanted applause! Because being praised is more important to her than being moral. Because just like her husband’s government, they all thrive and get-off, not on results, but on recognition, even when what they offer is hollow and self-serving.

The same mentality infects every policy we have ever see from this government: small, selective, symbolic changes dressed up as progress, while the real suffering continues.

You see what happens when we let this type of self-gradification behaviour slide once? They do it again. They do it again because we allowed them to. Because the first time they offered a pitiful handout, many of us clapped from both sides. They promised us “relief,” and we got duty-free orange juice instead. They promised opportunity, and we got Melissa Skerrit stealing a scholarship from a child.

For decades, we have accepted symbolic crumbs, and instead of demanding more, because that has become our culture, we have been tricked into celebrating our own humiliation. While we eat canned sardines, the political elites dine on $85 steaks, wear Versace shirts to rallies, and live in comfort, all funded by our taxes, our silence, and our applause. Because we are desperate, wanting, and in need, and they count on that.

It Is Time We Stopped Clapping And Push Back.

• Stop clapping when they give us less than we expect.
• Stop clapping when they rob our children of a educational future and turn it into a photo op.
• Stop clapping when they tell us toothpaste and canned meat are economic miracles.

We are not ungrateful; we are tired of being taken for fools!

We are not angry because we got nothing; we are angry because we did not get enough!
Until we demand better, they will keep offering less and taking more. More from our children, more from our future, and more from our dignity. They live comfortably off paychecks we fund, far removed from the everyday struggles we face. They do not feel what we feel. Not the hunger. Not the worry. Not the weight of a grocery bill that keeps rising.

If you can not see how seriously crazy this VAT exemption list is, then you need to reevaluate your loyalty to Dominica, because no one who truly loves this country would cheer for this kind of insult.

Until we must stand up, because they will never step down.

Team DRP

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