Roseau, Dominica: Dominica is on a difficult but transformative journey as it progresses towards “becoming the world’s first climate resilient nation”. In the face of multiple natural disasters, the country has never taken its steps back and emerged as an example of resilience and regeneration with the assistance of the CBI Programme.
Being devastated by several natural calamities, such as tropical Storm Erika (in 2015) and Hurricane Maria (in 2017), Dominica had 300% GDP, infrastructure, and lives. The entire scenario has led the government of Dominica to put efforts into building Dominica in a better position that can withstand any natural calamity.
Being a Small Island Developing State, Dominica is vulnerable to climate as it stands to lose even more than other countries due to its size and location.
Despite all the major challenges, the country always remained in high spirits to combat the issues and implemented sufficient and significant measures such as the construction of climate-resilient houses, health centres, hurricane shelters and hospitals.
While refusing to depend upon any luck or chance, Dominica decided to do work and adopt a vigilant approach toward climate change. This has led the country to start the journey of a climate-resilient future of the country and work for the security of its citizens.
The journey of resilience and regeneration of Dominica has been assisted by its Citizenship by Investment Programme.
With the help of CBI funds, the country has initiated several developmental projects, such as a Geothermal power plant, a Cable Car Project, an International Airport and the construction of climate-resilient homes and health centres islandwide.
The government of Dominica, under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit, has adopted a comprehensive and proactive approach to ensure the survival and prosperity of its people and economy.
The aim of these developmental projects is to enhance the lifestyle of the local citizens and create new opportunities.
The Citizenship by Investment Programme of Dominica has turned into a great support for the restart of the country. The investment from the programme has made the country pave the prosperous path of resilience.
Steps taken by Dominica to ensure a climate-resilient future
Dominica has taken greater steps in fulfilling the resilient agenda to ensure that the nation’s citizens lead a secure life where they can have the comfort of a home which can withstand any natural calamity.
The agenda took the government to the idea of delivering climate-resilient homes to the thousands of citizens who lost their homes due to Hurricanes and Storms.
With the help of the CBI Programme, the government has undertaken numerous essential steps for the benefit of its citizens. The steps have marked the commitment of the government towards its climate-resilient goals.
Resilient Homes
The first step for the resilient agenda is the aim of building 5000 climate-resilient homes for the citizens who lost their houses to Hurricane Maria and Tropical Storm Erika. Out of this, the government has delivered more than 1,500 homes to families since 2017. The aim of the drive is to empower people and make them feel secure in their own houses, which will not be destroyed by the brunt of natural calamities in future.
Moving ahead to this drive, the government recently delivered 73 homes to deserving families as their Christmas present in December 2023. Besides this, 18 houses have also been delivered to the houses to deserving families in the Kalinago Community in October 2023, among others.
The beneficiaries of these houses expressed gratitude to the government of Dominica and Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit. During the handover ceremony, one of the beneficiaries named, Mathew Burton of Bataka, shared his experience of the new house.
He called it “a great initiative” and expressed pleasure in receiving the key to his new home. He said, ”This home has provided me the opportunity to reunite with my family where we can be all together under the same roof after being separated due to Hurricane Maria.”
Burton added that he is eagerly looking forward to creating new memories with her wife and two children in his new resilient home. “Once again, I am thankful on behalf of my family to the government and those who have helped it one way or the other to make this possible.”
Another beneficiary from Castle Bruce, Virgin Challenge, expressed gratitude and said it was a long and tedious journey. She said, ”During that period, I was looking for my family and kids as the house was flooding, and inside the house, it was like a river. We have cried, prayed, and the Lord finally answered our prayer, and now I can see, I have a home, and I am grateful.”
She further added that the the home is now “dedicated this to God as she can pray in it,”. She thanked God for the new life. The beneficary extended gratitude to the government and the prime minister for the house.
Besides this, the government will also hand over an additional 250 homes to deserving families in Dominica by June 2024.
With the construction of climate-resilient homes, Dominica has become the first island nation to provide free housing to its people.
This has become possible with the funds generated by the Citizenship by Investment Programme. The government has been using the funds wisely in building safe and secure places for the citizens who have lost their everything due to the brunt of nature.
The infrastructural growth of Dominica is not only limited to homes but it is moved forward to the construction of modern and resilient healthcare facilities. With the world-class facilities, Dominica has built Marigot Hospital and become the first nation to offer CT scan facilities to patients in Caribbean.
Besides this, 12 healthcare centres are also being constructed in the country for the betterment of the citizens and to enhance their connectivity to any medical facility. All these facilities are aimed to provide a better life to the citizens and make them feel secure in their country.
In order to grow the economy, the government has been using the funds of the CBI Programme for the construction of the International Airport. The aim of the project is to mitigate the problems due to long-haul flights and generate new employment opportunities for the locals. While connecting the country to major business hubs, the project will welcome direct flights to the United States, Europe and other parts of the world.
Recently, Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit said that the construction work of the project has been progressing with each passing day as the work on the runway has started.
Further, the construction of the much-awaited Cable Car Project in Dominica has also marked the wise use of the funds of the CBI Programme. The country is all set to construct the world-longest cable car, aiming to make the journey from Roseau to Boiling Lake easier and more accessible. It will allow the tourists to view the mesmerising beauty of Dominica with one ride.
Besides this, the project is highly beneficial for the locals as it will enhance employment opportunities and boost small businesses across the island nation.
Eco-Tourism
Dominica has also been keenly focusing on the preservation of the environment and its natural assets. To this end, the island constructed eco-tourist resorts such as Secret Bay and Jungle Bay, where luxury and sustainability meet each other. The majority of these hotels also run on solar power and use eco-friendly crockery, cutler and glassware. The prime focus of these resorts is to promote the zero-waste policy.
The construction of these resorts has become possible with the Citizenship by Investment Programme. Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit once stated that thanks to the real estate arm of the programme Dominica is becoming increasingly known for its luxury tourism offering.
He added that investors who are looking to expand their real estate portfolio have the opportunity to invest in established luxury hotel brands and villas under the CBI Programme.
Sperm Whale Reserve
In order to protect the environment and natural assets, the government has been planning to build the Sperm Whale Reserve, which will be the first of its kind in the world. With the announcement, Dominica showcased that the actions matter the most as the reserve will protect the endangered sperm whales and reduce their carbon footprints.
The 300 sq miles reserve will provide a safe and secure environment for the whales.
Accolades and Awards
Recently, Dominica has been featured in the list of 52 places to go in 2024 by the New York Times. The media platform ranked the country in the 11 positions as the country surpassed places like London, Italy and Egypt in the list.
Besides this, BBC has also lauded the sustainability initiatives of Dominica and ranked it in its list of top 10 destination Sustainable destinations in 2024.