Female aspirant vows to establish financial institution if voted as Kalinago Chief. A financial institution serving as a micro-finance bank may soon be set up in the Kalinago Territory. This is the initiative of Annette Thomas-Sanford, the only female aspirant vying for the position of Kalinago Chief in the forthcoming July 27 election.
According to Thomas-Sanford, the Kalinago people ought to have a financial institution where they can easily deposit and withdraw money. This facility, she said, will become a reality once she is voted into office. She added that the people will also have easy access to loans which do not require individual land titles as collateral.
Kalinago Chief to Be Part of Parliament
With a micro-finance bank in place, the people wouldn’t need to visit Marigot, Castle Bruce or even Roseau to use a bank, Thomas-Sanford explained.
If I win this election I will look into it of course, and I will make this one of the priorities to have an institution/facility where we can accommodate savings and withdrawals for our people.
Annette Thomas-Sanford: Kalinago Territory Candidate
Furthermore, Thomas-Sanford revealed she desires for the Kalinago Chief to have an active voice in Parliament. She said the Chief must be part of Parliament to personally represent the interests of the people.
Thomas-Sanford will emerge as the first woman to become a Kalinago Chief if she wins the July 27 election. But then, historian Lennox Honychurch noted that women used to be local chiefs throughout the Caribbean islands before the arrival of Europeans in prehistoric times.
Kalinago Residents React to her Electoral Promises
A number of Dominica Territory residents reacted to Thomas-Sanford’s promise for a financial facility. One citizen advised Thomas-Sanford to also look into positioning the Kalinago people to access international funds for developmental projects. Some of these projects may include upgrading the cricket sporting facilities as well as technological processing of indigenous crops cultivated in the Reservations.
Another resident, Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque, added that the incoming politicians should look into land titles and ownership. He stated that Dominicans should be able to possess land titles which empower them to put up permanent structures anywhere in the country. On a flip note, Telemaque seeks to know how the financial institution Thomas-Sanford promised would get funding to run efficiently.
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