Dominican manufacturers have been advised to consider forming a regional manufacturers association in an effort to address issues affecting them.

“There is no regional manufactures association so we need to develop relationships…I think we have to get that going again, we need a regional association where we can gather and discuss the issues from each country and then agree a course of action,” Brian Pengelley said.

Mr Pengelley, the president of the Jamaica Manufactures Association was the featured speaker at the Dominica Manufacturers Association (DMA) second annual general meeting on Wednesday 22nd May at the Fort Young Hotel.

He noted that CARICOM’s decision to address the lack of representation of the private sector at the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) is a welcomed move.

“The fact is that as manufacturers we must protect our investments and make a profit despite what government does. Therefore, we have to also focus on making our companies efficient through effective management, modernization of our plans energy efficiency and productivity improvement”.

Mr Pengelley called on the manufacturers to ensure that they have “a voice at the table” because they are one of the greatest beneficiaries or losers of free trade agreements and integration movement.

He also called for urgent attention and possible reduction in the cost of electricity in the Caribbean because energy is a critical cost component for the manufacturing sector.

“I think we are both somewhere in the US48 cents range per kilowatt hour, we cannot survive in manufacturing at that kind of rate, it has to come down,” he stated.

He said Trinidad is the only country in the region which has a clear competitive advantage based on electricity generation which is oil and subsidies.

Meanwhile Trade Minister Dr Collin McIntyre suggested to the manufacturers that they need to establish a working relationship with the governments to address issues within that sector.

“Though there are numerous opportunities available for the continued development and expansion of the sector there are challenges. However, for these challenges to be addressed, there must be a collaborative honest working relationship with manufacturers and government,” he said.

The Trade Minister also stated that manufacturers themselves must concede that within the establishment there are structural changes to be made so as to respond to market demands and take advantage of the policy to ensure a competitive and enabling environment.

He urged manufacturers to be creative in their thinking, “brainstorm on possibilities and on market conditions realistically”.

Dominica Vibes News

Team USA continues to lead three other teams after day two of the Nature Island Challenge in Dominica.

The results for Day Two are as follows; USA: 70 Points, Trinidad One: 65 Points, Trinidad Two: 60 Points and Antigua: 55 Points.

The first portion of the race took the runners up one of the hardest hikes in Dominica, the Boiling Lake. Along the way, athletes passed the Valley of Desolation, where they painted their faces with a clay mask and posed for a photo challenge. Once they reached Boiling Lake, athletes again had to pose for a photo at their destination.

Following the Boiling Lake, athletes traveled up and over Morne Prosper before descending into Titou Gorge. At the Gorge, each team tagged out and their new partners took over. The new partners were immediately thrown into action as the challenge entailed doing their best Pirates of the Caribbean impression and actually jumping into the gorge. Once finished, each team took off for the final leg of the race towards Middleham Falls.

At Middleham Falls, teams had to capture an image of a Dominican resident diving off the top of the falls and into the water. Each team only had one chance to capture the dive on camera. After Middleham, racers traversed the roads and trails leading back to the Waitukubli National Trail Headquarters. Faced with torrential downpours, athletes had to take one more photo at the deepest gorge crossing in all of Dominica before arriving at the finish line at WNT HQ.

At the racer switchover at Titou Gorge, three teams were split by five minutes. USA was in the lead at the halfway point, followed by Antigua and Trinidad One. The new teammates took over and finished the race for each team. The USA finished the trail race in first, Antigua and Trinidad Two both tied for second, and Trinidad Two finished in fourth.

All three teams received full points for each of the mini challenges. For the photo challenges, Trinidad One took the first two (Clay Mark and Boiling Lake) and team USA took the Gorge Photo. Finally, the cultural challenge was the closest competition so far in the Nature Island Challenge. Antigua led off the Waitukubuli National Trail Mind Challenge with a time of 4 minutes and 56 seconds.

The USA and Trinidad One followed that with a 5:56 and 5:32 respectively. Lastly, the Trinidad Two teamed stepped up knowing they needed some serious points to catch up. Trinidad Two finished just in time with a time of 4:55, one second ahead of Antigua for the victory.

Cumulative points as of Day 2: USA: 165, Trinidad One: 125, Antigua: 100 and Trinidad Two: 95.

Dominica Vibes News

Two tourism organizations have partnered to host a workshop which they believe can assist tourism stakeholders in their enterprises.

The Discover Dominica Authority (DDA) and the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association (DHTA) are today, 23rd May hosting the first in a series of workshops dubbed ‘DDA and You – Top Ten Tips and Tools’ at the Fort Young Hotel.

This initiative, commenced as part of Tourism Awareness Month, is aimed towards management of tourism enterprises with the objective of providing Cost Effective Tips and Tools on: Customer Service, Crisis Management, Certification, Packaging, Social Media, Public Relations, Effective Collaboration, Greening your property, Product Development, and Training.

Through this initiative DDA and DHTA continues to work closely in developing the sector so as to ensure effective private and public sector collaboration as the industry strives to attain the goal of 7% growth over the next three years to reach 90,000 visitors by 2015.

“It is imperative that we continue working towards improving our standards, developing our products, and honing our skills to get to 90K by 2015, this is one of the steps to doing just that,” director of tourism Colin Piper said ahead of the workshop.

“We look forward to the positive outcome, including an increase in the number of certified properties,” he continued.

A workshop will be held every three (3) months focusing on different subject matters.

Dominica Vibes News

New chairperson of the Dominica Electricity Services Limited (DOMLEC) Sarah McDonald has assured the public that plans for new ways to help reduce electricity cost in Dominica is ongoing.

McDonald who took over from former chairman Robert Blanchard at Wednesday’s annual general meeting, told a press conference that the company will use its shared expertise in the region to resolve issues affecting the company.

“We will immediately look for opportunities to start to share knowledge and we can hopefully bring things to Dominica but we know that we can also learn from Dominica,” she said.

Light and Power holdings of Barbados (LPH) recently acquired a 52 % interest in DOMLEC from WRB Enterprises Inc. (WRB) of Tampa, Florida. One of the objectives of the new company is reducing operational cost.

“We are working very actively through EMERA around renewables and we know that the processes are high in many places because of the price of fuel and we want to find ways to reduce our reliance on oil”.

EMERA owns majors shares in several utility companies in the Caribbean region including Grenada, Barbados and St. Lucia.

According to McDonald, the company is looking at several options including wind energy in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, solar in Barbados or geothermal in Dominica.

“We think that the opportunities are there to start bringing renewables in which will help us reduce cost and also reduce emissions which is good for the environment,” McDonald said.

Meanwhile, general manager of DOMLEC Collin Cover said the reduction in electricity cost is determined by the company’s dependence on fossil fuel and his company is working in collaboration with the Dominica Government in that regard.

Dominica Vibes News

A male adult has been found hanging from a rope in his house early Thursday morning in the community of Newtown.

According to his mother, Claude Lionel Oscar, 28, of Victoria Street, Newtown was found in his father’s house.

A report from police public relations officer inspector John Carbon, the police are conducting investigations into an alleged suicide after Oscar was found hanging by his neck from a wire about 6am.

The area was cordoned off by officers of the Criminal Investigations Department.

Mr Carbon also reported that the body which was found motionless was transported to the Princess Margaret Hospital Accident and Emergency Department where it was pronounced dead upon arrival by a medical practitioner.

A coroner’s inquest will be convened to be followed by a post mortem examination as investigations continue.

Dominica Vibes News

Dominica’s sole electricity provider, DOMLEC has recorded a surplus of $8.2 million for its financial year 2011-2012.

General manager of Domlec Collin Cover told members of the media on Wednesday 22nd May after the company’s Annual General Meeting at the Fort Young Hotel that the surplus represents only 5% profit.

“We made 8.2 million dollars in profit that is basically a five percent profit because we have over a hundred and fifty-six million dollars invested in Dominica, so with an eight million dollars profit on an investment of a hundred and fifty-six million it’s a five percent profit,” he said.

Mr Cover also announced that several adjustments were made to realize that surplus of $8.2 million.

“One of the things we had to do was tighten up on our fiscal controls there was no big thing that was really happening but we simply went around and everywhere we were spending money that we thought we could improve and make it more efficient,” he explained.

Last year, DOMLEC made $7.75 million in profit.

Dominica Vibes News

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has called on Dominicans to show greater interest in African Liberation Day activities and to embrace their Africanity.

“We have to move from the politics of hate to the politics of love and solidarity. We therefore must endeavor to make the celebrations more inclusive, to make the celebrations a truly national one. I urge our citizens to get involved, to participate in African Liberation Day activities, to express your Africanity in various ways,” Mr Skerrit said.

The Prime Minister made the call at the official opening of African Liberation day activities at the Arawak House of Culture on Tuesday 21st May.

“In the final analysis, when we celebrate Africa Day as an expression of solidarity with Africa, we’re in fact expressing solidarity with our own people here in Dominica and in the Caribbean. African Liberation Day is not a rastaman thing; it is our thing as a people, as a nation and as a region,” he said.

He indicated that the government will continue to recognize and play its part in the celebration of African Liberation Day and will also include the day on the national calendar of events in Dominica.

Meanwhile, Mr Skerrit also called on Caribbean countries to deepen relations with the African Union.

“We are still victims of trade imbalances; we are still affected by international systems which work against our interest. This is why models of corporation have emerged in Africa and in the Caribbean”.

He further stated that in OECS and CARICOM are well established models of cooperation in the Caribbean, as well as ALBA, CELAC which were recently created and new arrangements such as Petro Caribe.

He noted that the emphasis is on South-South Corporation and in solidarity as a way of guaranteeing greater economic security, political sovereignty and independence of our countries.

“In the spirit of African Liberation and solidarity we need to find ways via these regional arrangements to deepen our relations with the African Union and with the people of Africa,” Mr Skerrit said.

Dominica Vibes News