Compensation to affected landowners of Dominica’s airport project is ongoing, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced.
In a press conference Monday, Skerrit revealed that the government has issued full payment to landowners amounting to more than 24 million dollars during the first month of the year. He assured me that the outstanding amount will be settled “in the next few weeks.”
Skerrit also said that 26 homeowners affected by the airport construction have received their keys to their new houses at the Joe Burton Development, with 12 of them living in “terrible housing conditions” before the relocation.
The Joe Burton housing development is one of the many infrastructure projects spearheaded by MMC Development Ltd., a private developing company that has been working closely with the government of Dominica for many years now.
The housing units are “being built by local contractors and all the services are being provided by Dominicans only,” MMC Development said.
MMC Development Ltd. is also the developing entity behind Dominica’s airport project, which is fully funded by the country’s Citizenship By Investment (CBI) programme.
“With the expansion of Joe Burton area, there are 20 or so lots which have all been subdivided into housing lots, and will be sold to residents in the Wesley and Woodford area,” Skerrit said.
Instead of handing out monetary assistance for people residing illegally on government lands, additional 13 housing units are also being constructed for them at Joe Burton, Skerrit added.
Skerrit also answered the allegations and “malicious” comments that the airport project had no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, saying that two respected entities worked together to produce an assessment for the billion-dollar airport—the local firm Ocean Caraibes Worldwide Consulting Coastal Engineers, and the US-based Applied Technology & Management.
Commissioned on January 2021, the evaluations and assessments for the EIA report were completed in February 2022.
“The studies were done, there were serious consultations with various stakeholders in the assessment,” Skerrit said.
The prime minister also disclosed that geotechnical studies for the airport project will continue.
Watch the press conference here:
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